Brad Pitt’s beloved zombie movie is finding a new audience more than a decade after it first hit theaters.
World War Z, the 2013 action thriller starring Pitt as former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane, is currently one of the most-watched movies on Paramount+ worldwide. The film landed in the No. 5 spot on Paramount+’s global movie chart for Oct. 16, according to FlixPatrol.
That’s a pretty strong showing for a movie that was released more than 13 years ago, particularly one that has already had a substantial life beyond its original theatrical run, and even has a recently-announced sequel coming.
Brad Pitt Takes on a Worldwide Zombie Outbreak
Directed by Marc Forster, World War Z follows Gerry Lane, a former U.N. investigator who is pulled back into action when a rapidly spreading zombie outbreak begins overwhelming governments and militaries around the world.
After witnessing just how quickly the infected can move and how difficult they are to stop, Gerry is recruited to help find a possible solution.
The movie takes him across multiple countries as he tries to understand the outbreak while his family remains in danger. Rather than keeping the story contained to a single city or group of survivors, World War Z operates on a massive scale, moving from Philadelphia to South Korea, Israel and Wales.
That global scope was a major part of what separated the movie from many other zombie films. Pitt leads a cast that also includes Mireille Enos, James Badge Dale, Matthew Fox and David Morse.
‘World War Z’ Was a $540 Million Box-Office Success
World War Z wasn’t an inexpensive movie to make. Box Office Mojo lists its production budget at approximately $190 million, putting considerable pressure on the film to perform when it opened in 2013.
The movie brought in $202.8 million domestically and another $337.6 million internationally for a worldwide total of $540,455,876.
That made World War Z a major theatrical success, particularly for an R-rated-adjacent genre that had generally been associated with lower-budget productions. The movie was rated PG-13, allowing it to reach a considerably broader audience.
‘World War Z’ is the Biggest Zombie Movie of All Time
ScreenRant recently described World War Z as the “biggest zombie movie of all time,” pointing to its enormous theatrical performance and continued popularity on streaming platforms.
That description is largely tied to the movie’s box-office record. Its $540 million-plus worldwide haul made it a commercial outlier among zombie movies, and it has remained one of the genre’s most recognizable mainstream releases.
The film’s scale is also part of its lasting appeal. Instead of focusing primarily on a handful of survivors barricaded in one location, World War Z depicts the outbreak as a worldwide catastrophe, with entire cities and countries struggling to contain it.
The current Paramount+ ranking isn’t the first time World War Z has shown staying power on streaming. The movie has appeared prominently on the service’s worldwide charts before, and it was even No. 1 on Paramount+’s global movie chart on Sept. 30, according to FlixPatrol.
Its latest No. 5 ranking comes at an interesting time for the franchise, too.
Paramount is now moving forward with a sequel, with Pitt set to return as Gerry Lane and Conclave director Edward Berger attached to direct. TheWrap reported in September that Dennis Kelly will write the screenplay, although plot details and a release date have not yet been announced.
