Just yesterday we heard the news that Paramount Pictures has given its zombie apocalypse epic WORLD WAR Z a Christmas 2012 release date. Now the studio has issued a press release confirming the news, as well as shedding some light on the flick’s cast and crew. The big news is that Matthew Fox, who was rumored to be in the film a few months ago but supposedly dropped out, is back in.
Also awesome is the revelation (to me, anyway) that the flick is being shot by Robert Richardson. Richardson is the genius behind the looks of films like JFK, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS and SHUTTER ISLAND, among many others.
The official release:
Paramount Pictures announced today it has set a release date of December 21st, 2012 for World War Z starring Academy Award-nominee Brad Pitt, with Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace) directing. The geo-political thriller from Paramount and Skydance Productions, in association with Hemisphere Media Capital and GK Films, is a Plan B Entertainment/Apparatus Productions production that is shooting in England following initial photography completed in Malta last month. The film will also shoot in Scotland and Hungary.
Produced by Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Colin Wilson, the screenplay is written by Matthew Michael Carnahan (State of Play) from Max Brooks’ best-selling novel World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. Starring Pitt (Moneyball), Mireille Enos (AMC’s “The Killing”), Daniella Kertesz in her feature film debut, James Badge Dale (The Departed) and Matthew Fox (“Lost”), the film’s Executive Producers are Forster, Brad Simpson, David Ellison, Paul Schwake, Dana Goldberg, Graham King and Tim Headington.
The story 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.
Behind-the-scenes talent includes two-time Academy Award-winning cinematographer Robert Richardson (The Aviator; JFK), production designer Nigel Phelps (Transformers: Dark of the Moon; Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen), costume designer Mayes C. Rubeo (Avatar) and Academy Award-nominated editor Matt Chessè (Finding Neverland).
Get into the Christmas spirit with WORLD WAR Z on DECEMBER 21, 2012.
Mireille Enos