Even before World War Z was released in 2013, there has been constant talk of one, sometimes two, sequels on the way from Paramount. Well, not anymore.

Courtesy of Deadline, Paramount has now decided against moving forward with any World War Z follow-up. As recently as last year, Brad Pitt was to return to star in and produce a World War Z sequel, with David Fincher to direct. Now though, the studio has decided to scrap their sequel plans due to concerns over the budget just such a picture would require.

That 2013 first movie was of course loosely based on Max Brooks’ 2006 novel that centred on the fallout of a zombie outbreak. Pitt headlined the Marc Forster-directed film as Gerry Lane, a UN worker who becomes embroiled in all of this.

Despite continuous rewrites, World War Z managed to bring home a decent $540 million. That said, the budget spiralled to close to $300 million by the time all was said and done.

There is the slight chance that Paramount may reassess and return to World War Z at some point in the future, but for now it appears that this big-screen franchise has shuffled to a halt after just one movie.