The World War Z ending went through some major changes before the film was released — here's how World War Z originally ended and why it was altered. Starring Brad Pitt and released in 2013 amid the zombie craze in Hollywood, World War Z seemed destined for success until reports of major reshoots surfaced. Nevertheless, when audiences and critics alike saw World War Z, most were somewhat surprised to see that the end result was a decent blockbuster.
Indeed, despite director Marc Forster and the crew scrapping the original World War Z ending, the movie remains a solid entry both in Brad Pitt's filmography and in the zombie horror sub-genre. In fact, World War Z still counts among Independence Day and Moonfall director Ronald Emmerich's favorite disaster movies. It's undeniable that World War Z is one of the better zombie movies of the 2010s — yet, the World War Z script changes reveal that it had the potential to be even better. Here's the original World War Z ending explained.
How World War Z's Original Ending Was Different
The World War Z ending places Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) in a World Health Organization building with a few fellow survivors, but the information he seeks is at the center of the building, which has been overrun by the infected. In the reshot World War Z ending that made it to film, Lane infects himself with a pathogen that can hide him from those who are infected, and he is able to walk past the rampaging zombies unharmed. A montage that closes the film shows humanity fighting back against the horde, ringing a hopeful ending for the survivors, and potentially setting up World War Z 2. But this is very different from the original plan for World War Z's conclusion.
World War Z's original ending, however, began with Lane and Segen (Daniella Kertesz) flying to Moscow where they are immediately drafted into the army being built to fight the zombies. Instead of going to the WHO building, the original ending features a time jump showing a bearded Lane still fighting in Russia during the winter. It's during this time he realizes the zombies move slower in the cold, giving the humans an advantage in these conditions. He's been out of communication with his family this entire time, but he is finally able to speak to his wife, who has secretly had to strike up a relationship with Matthew Fox's World War Z paratrooper to keep her and the kids safe. Later on, Lane, Segen, and a character named Simon begin traveling through Russia to go to the United States and save Lane's family. World War Z's final scene had them arriving in America and storming the country to find his family.
World War Z's Original Ending Was Too Bleak
This bleaker ending for World War Z came as a result of the script not being entirely finished when production began on the film. After filming was completed and Marc Forster assembled the first cut of the film though, Paramount executives and Pitt did not like the ending. Those who have seen the early cut of World War Z described the ending (via Vanity Fair) as "abrupt and incoherent," which lines up with the description of the footage that has since been revealed.
In order to fix the ending, Paramount hired Damon Lindelof to rewrite World War Z's script, ordered seven weeks of reshoots, and spent tens of millions of dollars shooting over 40 minutes of the 2-hour blockbuster. Even though all of these changes saw World War Z's budget balloon to over $200 million, it still managed to do fairly well at the box office - earning $540M worldwide. The end result gave Paramount a film that was successful enough to generate sequel conversations, with David Fincher most recently attached to the project. Whether World War Z becomes a franchise remains to be seen, but it is clear that the original ending was dramatically different from what the audience saw.
The World War Z Ending Is Why A Sequel Should Happen
The World War Z ending and script changes resulted in a myriad of production problems, and the source material deserves a better adaptation, which can still happen in a sequel. In fact, while Paramount's sequel plans have since been scrapped, David Fincher's rumored World War Z 2 plot eventually reveals that the vaccine Gerry Lane used in the ending only works for 36 hours, and that global political tensions continue to worsen as the zombie horde grows and takes over more territories. By diving deeper into virology and world politics, World War Z 2 could rectify the issues with the first movie, give the story a more thought-out and tone-appropriate climax, and finally do justice to the 2006 apocalyptic horror novel of the same name that pushed the zombie genre beyond its limits.