While reports had Prometheus and “Lost” scribe Damon Lindelof coming in to write a new ending to the Marc Forster-directed Brad Pitt-starrer World War Z, it actually was his “Lost” compadre, Drew Goddard, who did the bulk of the writing of the finale, reports Deadline. Lindelof, who reworked Prometheus and co-wrote the Star Trek sequel, cracked a potential new ending of the film, but Lindelof didn’t have time to do the scripting so that task fell to Goddard, who most recently adapted Robopocalypse, which is Steven Spielberg’s next film at DreamWorks. Goddard also wrote Cloverfield and directed Lionsgate’s The Cabin in the Woods.

Both of those guys are off to other projects, so it’s quite possible that Paramount will tap another writer to punch up this ending, if the studio decides to use it. They’re hearing Christopher McQuarrie, whom the studio is high on after he adapted and directed Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher, based on the Lee Child novels. That isn’t set in stone because McQuarrie is Cruise’s go-to guy and he will be doing some script work on All You Need Is Kill, the Doug Liman-directed action film that Cruise will next star in after he completes Oblivion.

No date has been set for the reshoots that will be needed to implement the new ending, but insiders say that Forster will be shooting those scenes.

The adaptation, starring Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, James Badge Dale, Matthew Fox and David Morse, revolves around United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Pitt), who traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity itself. Enos plays Gerry’s wife Karen Lane; Kertesz is his comrade in arms, Segen. It was slated for release on June 21, 2013.