Even if World War Z and Pacific Rim failed to really capture North American audiences this past summer, these two big-budget spectacles connected with foreign ticket-buyers—enough so that sequels for both movies are being considered.
The zombie-apocalypse World War Z pulled in about $200 million domestically, but reached over $300 million internationally—the combined half-billion dollar take is enough to make it star-producer Brad Pitt’s best-performing movie (beating out 2004’s Troy). And as follows any big hit, are talks of a follow-up — World War Z 2?
In a recent interview, Pitt tells Variety that he’s been mulling how to move forward with a sequel. “We have so many ideas on the table from the time we spent developing this thing and figuring out how the zombie worlds work. We’re going to do our best and see what we get out of it. We’ve got to get the script right first to determine if we go further.”
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A strong showing overseas has also buoyed Pacific Rim. While this sci-fi epic was something of a bust in North America, drawing just $100 million (roughly half its budget), strong ticket sales in foreign markets—particularly in (no surprise) Asia—at the very least has producers examining the idea of a second installment.
It appears zombies, monsters and robots are a huge draw beyond our borders—and that may mean we get more of them here. Let the fictional blockbuster wars continue.
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