It's been a long time coming, slowly shambling forth, but it looks like the film adaption of Max Brooks' seminal zombie opus World War Z will finally be calling "Action!". Coming from Brad Pitt's production company, Plan B Entertainment, breaking news from San Diego Comic-Con, via MTV, reports that the megastar is now also attached to play the lead.
Assuming the script is something near what I've already read, that would
mean Pitt is basically playing Max Brooks. Also, with Pitt on board in a lead role it also means, thankfully, that the potential Gone With The Wind of zombie films will indeed be made. This is great news to yours truly, who found the Brooks novel (along with Robert Kirkman's insanely good The Walking Dead comics, currently lensing for AMC) the most invigorating and, ahem, lively entry into the beyond-overplayed zombie mythos since Romero's Day Of The Dead.
Apparently Brooks' other books, The Zombie Survival Guide, and The Zombie Survival Guide:Recorded Attacks have been optioned by Paramount as well. With all this action, Brooks may soon find himself the King Of The Zombies to a new generation of horror fans, if he isn't already. When I first saw Zombieland I actually couldn't stop thinking how the intro and title sequence seemed lifted from Brooks' instruction manual on how to make it through through a zombie uprising and stay alive.
If you need a refresher course, take a look at the video below.
Apparently Brooks' other books, The Zombie Survival Guide, and The Zombie Survival Guide:Recorded Attacks have been optioned by Paramount as well. With all this action, Brooks may soon find himself the King Of The Zombies to a new generation of horror fans, if he isn't already. When I first saw Zombieland I actually couldn't stop thinking how the intro and title sequence seemed lifted from Brooks' instruction manual on how to make it through through a zombie uprising and stay alive.
If you need a refresher course, take a look at the video below.
Brooks novel World War Z is thee best Zombie novel out there, nothing and I say again NOTHING comes close!!! This is a genre-defining piece of work at its best
But a big fat NO to Pitts company snapping this up, I dont see him playing Brook's character of an agent of the United Nations Postwar Commission. I maybe wrong but I reckon there are alot more substantial than Pitt.... currently who I dont know.
Pitt's performances in 12 MONKEYS, KALIFORNIA, and a slew of others have proven the man can act. It's not his fault he's prettier than Farrah Fawcett, or that he can snag a 20m dollar payday for something like MR. AND MRS. SMITH.
I am very very very much looking forward to this (and as I wrote, Darabont's take on the WALKING DEAD)
these projects could very well end up washing the taste of all the awful and hackneyed zombie films/books/comics from my mouth for awhile.
Yeah, looking forward to this.
But there IS another great zombie book: Monster Island. Look it up.
In the screenplay I read the character of the interviewer is much more front and center and is the glue even more than in the book.
And yep, funny, I am reading MONSTER ISLAND right now. I liked Wellington's 13 BULLETS a lot so I thought I'd give his first outing into zombie territory a try. There are one or two sequels as well. But you want the true goods? Track down the first BOOK OF THE DEAD anthology, edited by Skipp and Spector and based on Romero's universe. That's a humdinger man.
While I would agree that World War Z is probably the best zombie book, there are some other good ones also worth checking out. The few that spring to mind are The Morningstar Saga by Z.A. Recht, Monster series by David Wellington (Monster Island, Monster Nation, Monster Planet), The Rising/The City of the Dead/Dead Sea by Brian Keene, Day by Day Armageddon/Beyond Exile by J. L. Bourne, Patient Zero: A Joe Ledger Novel by Jonathan Maberry to name but a few.
Brad Pitt is the obvious choice in this situation but I hope he comes off as serious in the part. Very easy to turn the whole film into a farce.
I loathe those Keene books. So poorly written, and catering to all the fanboy shit without having any depth or subtext at all.
The Patient Zero thing by Maberry was good. Start of a series too, I think the second book is out now as well, which centers on the 7 Plagues if I remember correctly.
This film will be played totally seriously and have a sense of tragedy, if the screenplay drafts I've read are any indication.