On the surface, A Quiet Place Part II and World War Z have absolutely nothing in common other than the fact that both are box office successes produced by Paramount.
The former is the sequel to a massive sleeper hit which scored the biggest opening weekend of the COVID-19 era after debuting to over $58 million across the four-day holiday frame, and with a global tally of $81 million in the bank already, John Krasinski’s second installment is now on its way to becoming hugely profitable.
Meanwhile, World War Z was dogged by production problems and extensive reshoots, reportedly increasing the budget to as high as $269 million in the process. Many were predicting it would flop spectacularly in the summer of 2013, but the Brad Pitt blockbuster surprised everyone by hauling in $540 million to become the highest-grossing effort in the history of the zombie genre.
Now, eight years after its release, A Quiet Place II has somehow seen World War Z make its way back into the domestic Top 10, after the two were paired together for drive-in screenings across the country. These showings yielded almost $500,000, which was enough to dislodge Warner Bros.’ Mortal Kombat from tenth spot and give the globetrotting apocalyptic action epic a most unexpected second lease of life.
Talk of a sequel has reared its head every so often in the interim, with David Fincher once tantalizingly attached to direct before he dropped out, but the chances of it actually happening have become increasingly remote. However, discussions might start up again now that World War Z has piggybacked the success of A Quiet Place Part II to wind up as one of the nation’s most popular titles once more.