World War Z

iguana

I mentioned this in the 28 Months Later thread but nobody bit,:( so I'm starting it's own thread.

J. Michael Straczynski, creator of Babylon 5, has written the script for the (hopefully) forthcoming World War Z movie, due for production in 2010. It's reviewed hear and sounds fantastic, though I hope the reviewer has it wrong and the script sticks with slow zombies.

I'll tell ya; if a 127 page screenplay could be this dense, I can only imagine how large in scope the novel is, and I would hate to be the guy in charge of naming all the minor changes and variations that must have inevitably been made to make this story somewhat filmable. Seriously folks, I can now see why this film has been sitting on Plan B's shelf for a year and has yet to be fully launched into production. It would require an international cast of thousands and more money thrown at it than any horror movie in history. However, if done right, it could also be the first zombie flick to come out a winner at the Academy Awards. No joke. This is the one we've been waiting for. The film that's gonna change the world's perceptions of what horror can be.

http://www.quietearth.us/articles/2008/09/05/Post-apocalyptic-script-review-WORLD-WAR-Z

It sounds completely fantastic. I really hope this gets made.

Galvasean

I don't see how World War Z would translate to film considering it was a collection of short stories.
Maybe they plan to make a film based around the 'history' of the Z War?

iguana

Galvasean wrote: »

I don't see how World War Z would translate to film considering it was a collection of short stories.
Maybe they plan to make a film based around the 'history' of the Z War?

Read the review I linked to, it explains it all.

eta; For the lazy.

See, in the screenplay anyway, Word War Z takes place after the war is already over and the world is starting to get civilization back on track. It's a Children of Men kind of world but worse because most countries are subsisting on food rations with no electricity or basic economic infrastructure. Worldwide, city streets are virtually empty except for the abandoned cars and fallen airplanes that litter the streets. However, world governments and organizations like the UN are still around.

The gist of the plot if that the citizens of the world need answers. How could this catastrophic event have happened, what went wrong and, most importantly, who's to blame? To find these answers, The UN hires Gerry to travel the world and track the event to its origins. From America he travels to China, Germany, the Middle East and elsewhere, interviewing doctors, government agents, and corporate spies, who all seem to point the finger squarely at the other guy. The script is punctuated by flashbacks which tell the story from each interviewee's perspective.

Tusky

Galvasean wrote: »

I don't see how World War Z would translate to film considering it was a collection of short stories.
Maybe they plan to make a film based around the 'history' of the Z War?

I assume they will use the information from all of the short stories to make a movie based around the war with the zombies.

Not The Real Scarecrow

I think Bradd Pitts company are producing it so should be a fairly high prfile flic.Think Zack Snyders compny are doing a similar flic as wellso prob gonna get an Armagedon/Deep Impact kind of showdown soon.

Dont be at yourself

I loved the book, and I'm really looking forward to this.

Ivan

Anything involving J. Michael Straczynski immediately pique's my interest. No idea of the source material, but if you want something complicated and interesting, written in a fascinating way, you have the right man for the job.

Will try to keep up on this movie...


And it actually sounds good in its own right too

Kess73

Loved the book, so done right, this could be very very good.

Necronomicon

Haven't read WWZ, but I've been meaning to get around to it since I finished the Zombie Survival Guide. IGN had an absolutely glowing preview of this a while back. Not sure if they were basing it on the screenplay or a rough-cut or what though.

Creature

Good book, hope the film works out well. Am I alone in thinking it'd probably be better suited to a TV series though given the episodic nature of the book?

allanb49

update on the movie

- LINK -

Deadline is reporting that Paramount Pictures' PG-13 adaptation of World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is far from dead, in fact, they claim there are multiple partners talking about financing the pic together.

The plan remains for Brad Pitt to star and for Marc Forster to direct the adaptation Max Brooks' novel "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War."

"The book looked at the aftermath of a global zombie war 10 years after the conflict, with a researcher for the UN Postwar Commission interviewing survivors in countries that were decimated by flesh eaters."

While I'm always excited for a new zombie movie, I just can't visualize what a PG-13 one would look like? Off screen feasting?

Kiith

They better keep very faithful to the source material. It's a fantastic book. If they even dare to put in fast zombies, i will burn the studio down.

Galvasean

Kiith wrote: »

They better keep very faithful to the source material. It's a fantastic book. If they even dare to put in fast zombies, i will burn the studio down.

Hollywood can't be that stupid. Why, that would be like making I Am Legend without vampires...

oh.

Dont be at yourself

Galvasean wrote: »

Hollywood can't be that stupid. Why, that would be like making I Am Legend without vampires...

oh.

The book will be pretty hard to translate into a film though - especially a blockbuster. The structure is probably better suited to a mini-series.

I was recently at a conference held by Max Brooks and the issue of this came up - supposedly they aren't keeping him in the loop whatsoever so he has no idea how this is going to turn out, but he is reasonably excited.

moomooman

PG13?

So it will be kid friendly and hostile to me.

Kinda like the new Alien prequels (or whatever they are calling them), toned down and dumbed down for the kiddies.

Kess73

The Battle Of Yonkers in a PG-13?







I know that large scale battle scenes have been done well in films with a PG-13 rating like the LOTR trilogy, but the Battle Of Yonkers has always been a meat grinder of a battle whenever I read the book, and certainly not PG-13 materia if it was to be faithful.

Duggy747

PG-13 Zombie movie? PG-13 World War Z Zombie movie!?!

Mickeroo

The producers are taking it elsewhere, production is stalled at the moment afaik, reckon theyll be pushing for an R-Rating. Hope so, awesome book.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/49059

Galvasean

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

The book will be pretty hard to translate into a film though - especially a blockbuster. The structure is probably better suited to a mini-series.

We're still talking about I Am legend right? The book is a short novella with a 3 act structure. I'd say it would be fairly simple to convert into a faithful film adaptation. It seems every time they try some bigwig studio exec has some 'great ideas' that end up ruining the film entirely.

Duggy747 wrote: »

PG-13 Zombie movie? PG-13 World War Z Zombie movie!?!

Well Land of the Dead got 15PG here. I think it was R in America though. Not sure.

Dont be at yourself

Galvasean wrote: »

We're still talking about I Am legend right? The book is a short novella with a 3 act structure. I'd say it would be fairly simple to convert into a faithful film adaptation. It seems every time they try some bigwig studio exec has some 'great ideas' that end up ruining the film entirely.

No, no! I was talking about WWZ. I totally agree that they ruined I Am Legend. They completely missed the point of the book.

McPlato

:pac:Loved the book! I could see ideas or maybe a selection of characters being used alright but if they wanted to stick to the book they really would have to pull all the stops out for this one.:pac::eek:

Tusky

PG13? No interest.

allanb49

A few days ago, our good friends at Deadline reported that the adaptation of Max Brooks‘ World War Z starring Brad Pitt and directed by Marc Forster was still on.

Bleeding Cool has had a keen interest in this adaptation, after we broke the news that producer company owner Brad Pitt had cast himself in the film, during last San Diego Comic Con, but it’s had a precarious road since, and even Deadline is concerned that a preponderance of zombie films on the way may cause issues in the production of said movie.

However, Bleeding Cool has now learned that World War Z will be filming in London and Pinewood Studios later this year, with Brad Pitt still in the star spot.

So Londonites, time to get your groan on.

Link!!

paddy kerins

i heard they hired a cinematographer and could start shooting next month. also its the same cinematographer whose worked on inglorious basterds and other high profile films

Richard Dower

It's utterly POINTLESS at PG-13, it needs to be R or whatever cert equates to 16 over here.

helimachoptor

Honestly from reading the wiki entry about the battle of yonkers if it turns out like the containment scene inn28 weeks later I'll shoot myself. I'm expecting bloody head popping graphically violent scenes

Mickeroo

Will be annoying if it's PG or whatever but tbh if the script is **** all the blood and guts in the world won't make it good. If they manage to make a compelling well made story (a feat in itself considering the structure of the book) out of this I'll be happy(ish).

Zero-Cool

I loved the book but this sounds like there gonna make a right arse of it!

Morag

If you have read the book then you know there wasn't a lot of 'head popping' at the battle for Yonkers.

Kess73

Sharrow wrote: »

If you have read the book then you know there wasn't a lot of 'head popping' at the battle for Yonkers.

No, but it was a graphic meat grinder of a fight.

Tens of thousands of zombies became nothing more than bloody mush.


8 million zombies against thousands of heavily equipped ground troops, tanks, combat helicopters, jet fighters, artillery and bombers. With all of it taking place in a bottleneck.


I figure I better use spoilers in case for those who have not read the book or listened to the audiobook, but below is a desciption of the battle. No way could it be done justice, imho of course, in a PG-13.


http://zombie.wikia.com/wiki/Battle_of_Yonkers

Several elements of the United States Armed Forces were deployed along the Saw Mill River Parkway in North Yonkers. While the parkway served as a natural choke point (as well as the only intelligent tactic that military leadership employed, as described by a surviving veteran), it made no difference in the final result. Utilizing antiquated tactics dating back to the Cold War, positions were prepared in such ways as digging tank emplacements, building barriers out of sandbags, and in foxholes. The zombie hordes from the city were lured into the choke point by the handful of refugees still fleeing towards the army's position, and due to the chain swarm effect, gradually the entire New York City infestation, numbering in the millions, was headed towards Yonkers.

When zombies first began to trickle down the freeway, the opening salvos were fired - two MLRS rocket barrages which did destroy a significant percentage of the first wave. As the undead became more tightly packed, the MLRS lost effectiveness, with the thick swarms of zombies reducing the possibility of a head wound significantly. The second barrage came from M109 Paladin artillery stationed on a hill to the rear of the infantry. They fired fragmentation shells which had even less of an effect than the MLRS barrages. The artillery strikes depended on the "balloon effect," which by proximity to an explosion would cause the liquid in the victim's body to burst. This did not occur, however, because of the zombie's coagulated blood. Therefore, SNT (Sudden Nerve Trauma), which "just shuts down vital organs like God flickin' a light switch," did not happen either.[1]

After this, the infantry, armor and air support opened fire on the "river of undead humans". Firing on the zombies were the full military might of the United States Army: M1 Abrams tanks, M2 Bradleys, Humvees, mortars and several RAH-66 Comanche helicopters. All of these held sustained fire for a time in what was likened to "a meatgrinder, or a wood chipper..."[2] until the anti-personnel ammunition ran out. In fact, little of it had even been provided for the tanks. The armor and helicopters then switched over to Anti-Tank rounds like HEAT or Sabot shells which had little to no effect on the swelling tide of undead.

The infantry were left fighting the undead in close proximity, and there were even zombies locked in the houses behind the front line of infantry that had been freed by the explosions. Other soldiers could see everything, through the weapon mounted cameras of the front-line soldiers (thanks to the Land Warrior system); the hordes closing in, their fellow soldiers falling and being eaten alive and even reports of zombies not dying when being shot in the head (this was however noted to have happened because the rounds grazed their heads; this would be recognized as a common sight only in later battles). F-35 fighter jets launched AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon, dropping hundreds of thousands of explosive devices.

The bombing run decimated the oncoming wave and resulted in a few moments of eerie silence as the dazed and confused soldiers recovered from the shock of the nearby explosions. However, soon even more zombies shuffled up the road to take their place. At that point the battle turned into utter chaos, as the soldiers on the ground saw an oncoming wave of millions more zombies emerging from the smoke clouds from the bombs that had taken out the first several thousand. Satellite images from the Land Warrior system still showed a horde of millions of zombies stretching back into Times Square on Manhattan island. In a notable act of desperation, Waino recounts that one helicopter gunship bravely tried to buy time for infantry on the ground to retreat by flying low towards the zombie horde with its rotary blades tipped forward; this sliced through many zombies and slowed their advance, but then one of the helicopter's blades hit a wrecked car, causing it to crash and explode.

News crews clambered over one another to get away from the coming onslaught and military personnel sought refuge anywhere they could from the zombies. There was crazy, random shooting from soldiers and armed newsmen in a blind panic. Waino recounts being knocked over by a round he took in the chest (the only use for the body armor that day), only to have someone lob a flash-bang grenade right in his face. The Air Force dropped several thermobaric weapons on the zombies and their own troops hoping to neutralize the undead at Yonkers in one sweep (which had the gruesome side-effect of ripping lungs out of individuals not destroyed by the initial blast, leaving numerous ghouls wandering around with their lungs hanging out of their mouths). It accomplished its purpose of destroying the majority of zombies from that battle but many more still poured in from Manhattan, overpowering the American forces and proving, to devastating effect, and on national television no less, that the war with the undead could not be won with conventional tactics. Within 3 weeks after Yonkers, the eastern United States was abandoned by the United States military in a mass retreat to a new defensive line at the Rocky Mountains.

Kiith

Kess73 wrote: »

Awesome writing

****...i gotta read the book again now.

Galvasean

Kess73 wrote: »

8 million zombies against thousands of heavily equipped ground troops, tanks, combat helicopters, jet fighters, artillery and bombers. With all of it taking place in a bottleneck.

I anticipate much CGI and little else

Richard Dower

Lead actress cast in WWZ: http://www.tvline.com/2011/04/the-killing-mireille-enos-brad-pitt-world-war-z/

Mickeroo

Richard Dower wrote: »

Lead actress cast in WWZ: http://www.tvline.com/2011/04/the-killing-mireille-enos-brad-pitt-world-war-z/

Who were the Lanes? I can't remember from when I read the book, were they even in the book? I hope they don't just focus on one family for the whole movie or something, there's so many individual chapters in that book that would make great movies on their own if they were just fleshed out a bit.

I'm not fully sure, but the only family that gets featured in the book are the ones that go to Alaska at some point. So perhaps that could be the Lanes?

Honestly, I don't get the whole anger towards it being a PG-13. You can do a lot in a PG-13, just as long as you don't see the blood and violence on screen. You can do very effective stuff with sound effects and offcamera action.

ChunkyLover_53

Mickeroo wrote: »

Who were the Lanes? I can't remember from when I read the book, were they even in the book? I hope they don't just focus on one family for the whole movie or something, there's so many individual chapters in that book that would make great movies on their own if they were just fleshed out a bit.

Wasn't Gerry Lane, Max Brooks' pseudonym? He's the narrator in the book.

But I'm baffled as to where his wife comes into it

I honestly thought the main female lead would have been centered around the Air Force pilot who crashed in the swamps.

iguana

Enos is a fantastic actor. In Big Love she played twins and she did an excellent job. Even her body language as the two different characters was distinctly different. It was very easy to forget the same actor was playing both Kathy and Jodean.

Eirebear

Richard Dower wrote: »

Lead actress cast in WWZ: http://www.tvline.com/2011/04/the-killing-mireille-enos-brad-pitt-world-war-z/

Ugh, the yanks remade The Killing? FFS.

Completely OT, I know - so if you would like to insert something along the lines of "Awwww jeez, PG-13? Srsly?" here, then i would be much obliged.

Kess73

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm not fully sure, but the only family that gets featured in the book are the ones that go to Alaska at some point. So perhaps that could be the Lanes?

Honestly, I don't get the whole anger towards it being a PG-13. You can do a lot in a PG-13, just as long as you don't see the blood and violence on screen. You can do very effective stuff with sound effects and offcamera action.

I agree that a lot can be done in films with that rating, but for it to be done with a film adaptation of World War Z a hell of a lot of stuff would have to be left out or happen off camera.


The Battle Of Yonkers

Iran

and

Pakistan

nuking each other.

The fight back of the American army and the introduction of the Lobo and seeing it being used.

The African outbreak and the gruesome tactics used there.

The kid in the apartment building with the sword.

The fate of the millions of survivors who run to Canada.

The K-9 corp.

There are literally dozens of other incidents that would have to be cut badly or happen offscreen for it to be PG-13.

Kimia

When is this scheduled for release? I am so ridiculously excited.

Mickeroo

Kimia wrote: »

When is this scheduled for release? I am so ridiculously excited.

I don't think the script is even written yet,could be a few years.

Skinfull

Kiith wrote: »

****...i gotta read the book again now.

This is one instance when I say the Audio book is so much better than the hard copy. The actors they got include:
Max Brooks as Max Brooks
Alan Alda as Arthur Sinclair (best part! and I hope he's in the movie!)
Carl Reiner as Jurgen Warbrunn
Jürgen Prochnow as Philip Adler
Dean Edwards as Joe Muhammad
Mark Hamill as Todd Wainio
Henry Rollins as T. Sean Collins
John Turturro as Serosha Garcia Alvarez
Rob Reiner as "The Whacko"
John McElroy as Ernesto Olguin

ChunkyLover_53

Yeah the Audioook was great but it was heavily abridged.

Was so looking foward to hearing the girl who grew up in the wild do the Zombie moan, but it wasn't in it. Also they could have done the battles in the Parisian sewrs/catacombs, would have been brilliant.

Cantona's Collars

Ed Harris and Matthew Fox have joined the cast.

http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2011/06/21/matthew-fox-ed-harris-join-the-fray-for-world-war-z/

Really must read the book now.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

you really must I read it for the first time a few weeks ago, fantastic book. Sat down and read it all pretty much in one sitting, had to leave the last 30 pages till the next morning cos I was tired.

The Gibzilla

Very excited about this!

I really enjoyed the book and with "The Walking Dead" gathering a following I can see this project getting more attention.
I wonder if they might use animation to display some of the more complex chapters from the book. Along the lines of the animation in the middle of "Kill Bill Vol: 1".

JP Liz V1

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=78693

^ Set pics

Mickeroo

Didn't realise they had started filming, sweet!

Boo Radley

More set pics:

http://www.movieweb.com/news/world-war-z-zombie-set-photos

pixelburp

Boo Radley wrote: »

More set pics:

http://www.movieweb.com/news/world-war-z-zombie-set-photos

Cool pics; going by clothes & uniforms, that's clearly the portion of the novel set in Israel, though if Brad Pitt's the lead actor in this, they're deviating from the flow of the book a fair bit:

in the novel, we read witness testimony - after the fact - of how Israel were the first to deal with the plague & what happened. I'm guessing in the movie our man Pitt is going to be a journo on the ground as it happens

I still think a movie of this is a waste - everyone had their own favorite portions & sets of witness stories; there's no way a movie can cover so many countries & so many vignettes whilst keeping the fans of the novel happy. I'm guessing the bulk is going to be set around America's own response which again was enough story for a whole TV series. Shame.