It’s only natural that the biggest zombie pandemic movie of all time, World War Z, should come back for round two. That beast grossed over $500 million, and confirmed the massive draw of our beloved Brad Pitt (who really doesn’t appear in enough things). But here’s a surprising piece of sequel-related news: British writer Dennis Kelly has been hired to write a new draft of the script, which was originally in the hands of Burnt‘s Stephen Knight. This news is surprising only because Kelly hasn’t had a major film writing credit, though he created the UK conspiracy thriller series Utopia and wrote multiple episodes of the sitcom Pulling. We’re excited to see what Kelly brings to the table in World War Z 2.

The first World War Z, adapted from Max Brooks’ novel of the same name, was directed by Quantum of Solance‘s Marc Forster and written by Matthew Michael Carnahan, Drew Goddard, and Damon Lindelof. It famously had a lot of problems during production, including wildly expensive re-shoots after test audiences complained about the third act (though, none of these issues seemed to affect the final performance of the film). World War Z 2 is being helmed by Spanish director J.A. Bayona (he did The Impossibleand The Orphanage). It’s scheduled for release on June 9, 2017.

What do you think of Dennis Kelly taking over the writing reigns? Who would you have picked? Are you going to see the sequel when it comes out? Let us know your innermost thoughts in the comments below.

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HT: Variety

IMAGE: Wolf Gang, courtesy of Flickr and Creative Commons/Paramount Pictures