We recently heard that the big-screen, big-budget adaptation of Max Brooks’ terrific and unnerving book WORLD WAR Z had one dessicated foot in the grave due to cost concerns, with Paramount unwilling to front the required $125 million for an R-rated horror epic.
Things don’t look quite so rotten at the moment, as Deadline says the project may be reanimated thanks to potential partnership from some willing financiers. If things come together, the project could start production this summer (although we’re hearing groans that the studio wants a more commercially viable PG-13 rating, big surprise…).
The book is set in the aftermath of a global war between humanity and a legion of flesh-eating zombies, and is told anthology-style through a series of “interviews” with survivors. The film will presumably have a single main character as a conduit for viewers to experience the horrors.
Brad Pitt is still expected to star (his company Plan B is among the producers) and Marc Forster (QUANTUM OF SOLACE) will direct the cinematic corpses. The latest draft of the script came from Matt Carnahan (THE KINGDOM, STATE OF PLAY).
We zombie fans will need WWZ to counteract the impending influx of shamblers used for satirical purposes more silly than scary — the endless list of upcoming action/zomcom movies includes BOY SCOUTS VS. ZOMBIES, PAUL IS UNDEAD, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES, ZOMBIES VS. ROBOTS, R.I.P.D. and the romzom WARM BODIES, to name just a few of the higher-profile ones. Someone needs to bring more of the undead dread like “The Walking Dead” attempted to do…
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