Tuesday, May 19, 2026

“World War Z” Defies Bad Buzz, Makes $66 Mil, Sequel A Definite

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Paramount just called “World War Z” their third biggest franchise opener for the studio– meaning “WWZ” is a franchise, and a sequel is assured. The Brad Pitt starrer, with Marc Forster directing, took in $66 million this weekend. The smart, funny, tense film surprised everyone. But not Brad Pitt, who worked like a dog promoting “WWZ” all over the world. It’s his own biggest opening weekend ever personally, by $16 million. “WWZ” was dissected in advance of its release by everyone. The last third of the movie was reshot entirely, a whole sequence shot in Russia was canned, Matthew Fox’s role was sliced to almost nothing. For a while, things looked bad. But perseverance paid off. And now “WWZ” is a big hit. And no zombies were hurt in the making of this movie.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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