'The Impossible' Director Will Helm 'World War Z' Sequel

After terrifying moviegoers with a tsunami and its aftermath in The Impossible, Juan Antonio Bayona will direct a wave of zombies (and Brad Pitt) in the sequel to World War Z. The Hollywood Reporter reported on Tuesday that Paramount had selected Bayona to follow Marc Forster at the helm of the surprise blockbuster franchise.

Despite production delays and costly reshoots, World War Z was a critical and financial success, grossing $202.4 million domestically and $540 million worldwide. Pitt finally build a franchise for himself. While Pitt and the studio have been talking about a sequel since World War Z was released, there was little chance that Forster would be back as director. Forster and Pitt reportedly didn't get along during the shoot and at some points stopped talking to each other. With Pitt's production company calling the shots, Forster was the odd man out.

After seeing Bayona's The Impossible, I have no doubt that he's the right guy for the World War sequel. The Impossible was frightening, telling the story of a family broken apart in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The movie led to Naomi Watts getting an Oscar nomination for Best Actress last year. Once you've directed a real-life disaster movie, directing one about an imaginary disaster shouldn't be difficult.

Can we figure out what to call the sequel to World War Z? I hate World War Z 2. We're going to have to go with a subtitle on this one. Please don't use a "Rise" or "Age of" subtitle either.