A Brad Pitt Horror Movie That Should Have Launched A Franchise Is Finding New Fans On Hulu

Although the zombie craze seemingly died down in the late 2010s, it's been enjoying a nice comeback in recent months. Not only is Danny Boyle's hit "28 Years Later" about to drop on Netflix, but the 2013 zombie movie "World War Z" is the #3 most-watched movie on Hulu this week. 

The film features Brad Pitt playing a former UN investigator who suddenly has to survive the zombie apocalypse and save humanity while he's at it. Pitt's character travels around the world, running from one disturbing set piece to another. The result is a movie that's never too scary (especially thanks to its PG-13 rating), but which is nevertheless a fun, suspenseful watch. 

Unfortunately, the film was a middling success when it released. It performed decently at the box office and critics largely described it as passable, but not amazing. A big source of contention about the movie came down to the complaints from fans of the book it was based on. The book was not only less sanitized, but it embraced a sort of short-story anthology format, depicting the zombie apocalypse by constantly jumping to a new place with new characters and conveying the situation through as many varied lenses as possible. 

Meanwhile, the movie stuck to a traditional hero's journey, abandoning the book's scope for a story that's almost entirely about Brad Pitt's character. If you hadn't read the book, this all felt fine, but if you had read the book, it was hard to not feel frustrated by the movie ignoring the main thing that made it special. 

While both the "28 Days Later" franchise and "World War Z" are enjoying a boost in popularity right now, it's only the former that's making the most of the new viewership. The sequel "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple" is set to release in theaters early next year and already has a trailer out for fans to enjoy. Meanwhile, "World War Z" never received a sequel. One did briefly seem to be in the works with David Fincher involved, but that project was scrapped in 2019. 

This is a shame, because the biggest flaw of "World War Z," the fact that it doesn't embrace the book's anthology format, is its biggest strength for its sequels. It has an opportunity to keep telling the story of the zombie apocalypse, but from a new character's perspective from a different part of the world. A sequel to "World War Z" could've been something like "A Quiet Place: Day One," a movie that did well both critically and financially despite featuring only one minor character from the first two "Quiet Place" films.

For those who see the vision in an eventual "World War Z" sequel, there's been some hope in recent months with Paramount CEO David Ellison namechecking the movie in August as one he'd like to make a sequel to. Granted, as fans of the book have pointed out time and time again, perhaps a TV reboot would make the most sense. The book, with its massive cast and its focus on collective action, might be better adapted for the small screen instead.