WORLD WAR Z

World War Z is an upcoming apocalyptic horror film directed by Marc Forster and written by Matthew Michael Carnahan. It is based on the novel of the same name by Max Brooks. Brad Pitt stars as Gerry Lane, a worker at the United Nations, as he searches the globe for information that can stop the zombie outbreak that is bringing down nations.

Directed by              Marc Forster

Produced by            Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner

Screenplay by        Matthew Michael Carnahan

Story by                     Matthew Michael Carnahan

Starring                      Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, James Badge Dale, Matthew Fox

Music by                    Marco Beltrami

Cinematography              Ben Seresin

Distributed by                   Paramount Pictures

Release date(s)                               June 21, 2013

Budget                             $125–200 million

World War Z is due to be released on June 21, 2013 in RealD 3D and IMAX 3D selected theaters.

As a zombie pandemic traverses the globe, United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) travels the world trying to find a way to stop the pandemic that is defeating armies and collapsing governments.

StarCast

Brad Pitt as Gerry Lane, a U.N. employee who scours the world, interviewing survivors of the zombie apocalypse, referred to as World War Z.

Mireille Enos as Karin, Lane's wife and mother of their two children.

James Badge Dale as Captain Speke, an American soldier who "tries to warn the government that the threat of zombies is real."

Lucy Aharish as a young Palestinian woman

David Morse as a prisoner living in an abandoned jail

Development

After a bidding war with Leonardo DiCaprio's production company Appian Way, Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment secured the screen rights to the novel in 2007. The screenplay was written by Babylon 5 and Rising Stars creator J. Michael Straczynski, who identified the challenge in adapting the work as "creating a main character out of a book that reads as a UN Report on the zombie wars". Marc Forster signed on to direct, and described the film as reminiscent of 1970s conspiracy thrillers like All the President's Men. Straczynski, however, identified 2002 spy film The Bourne Identity as an appropriate comparison, and noted that the film will have a large international scope which maintains the political emphasis.

An early script was leaked onto the internet in 2008. Ain't It Cool News reviewed the script in March 2008, and said "This isn't just a good adaptation of a difficult book... it's a genre-defining piece of work that could well see us all arguing about whether or not a zombie movie qualifies as 'Best Picture' material". The review also noted the film appears stylistically similar to Children of Men. According to Ain't It Cool News, the film follows Gerry Lane as he travels the post-war world and interviews survivors of the zombie war who are "starting to wonder if survival is a victory of any kind". One of the first interviews is with Dr. Tsai, the first to encounter the zombies.

In July 2009, Brooks revealed to Fangoria that the script was being re-written by Matthew Michael Carnahan. Brooks believes this "shows  confidence in this project" because of the amount of money that was being invested in it. Paramount Pictures and UTV Motion Pictures announced at the 2010 Comic-Con that Forster is set as director, and Brad Pitt has been confirmed to play the lead role.

In March 2011, it was reported that Paramount was searching for co-financier, and would likely pull the plug on the adaptation without one. The article also stated that "an eleventh-hour effort is being made to court frequent Paramount co-financier David Ellison". A week later, Deadline.com reported that "hot and heavy talks are going on with David Ellison's Skydance and as many as two other financiers".

Pre-production

Pre-production began in April 2011 with Robert Richardson announced as the cinematographer. In the same month it was reported that filming locations would include Pinewood Studios and London, England. Also in April, Mireille Enos was cast as Brad Pitt’s wife and mother of their two children.

In June 2011, James Badge Dale entered negotiations to join the film as an American soldier who tries to alert authorities that the zombie threat is real. The following day it was reported that filming would begin in Malta in July 2011 and would encompass Valletta and The Three Cities. A few days later Matthew Fox and Ed Harris entered talks while Julia Levy-Boeken was set to join the film.The same day Lucy Aharish joined the cast as a young Palestinian woman.It was also reported in June that filming will also take place in Glasgow, Scotland in August 2011. At the end of the month New York Magazine reported that neither Matthew Fox nor Ed Harris would be starring in the film despite previous reports. Fox had a scheduling conflict stemming from his prior commitment to star in Alex Cross with Tyler Perry at Summit Entertainment.

Filming in Glasgow

On a budget of $125 million, World War Z began principal photography in July 2011 in Malta, with the first images of production being released a few days later.Filming was set to move to Glasgow, Scotland in August with the production company looking to recruit 2,000 local extras for the shoot.At least 3,000 people showed up at a casting call in Glasgow on July 9, hoping for the opportunity to appear in a scene set in a financial district in Philadelphia. Scenes were also shot in Falmouth, Cornwall. Also in July 2011, Game of Thrones actor Elyes Gabel was cast as a character named Fassbach.

Post production

In May 2012, it was reported that production would return to Budapest for seven weeks of additional shooting. The following month, screenwriter Damon Lindelof was hired to rewrite the film's third act with reshoots scheduled to begin in September or October 2012. However Lindelof, who also reworked Prometheus and co-wrote Star Trek Into Darkness, did not have time to script the new ending and in July 2012, Paramount hired Lindelof's Lost partner, Drew Goddard.Lindelof explained there were inefficiencies in the script in relation to the shooting, which started before the script was finalized thus making the ending "abrupt and incoherent" and was missing a large chunk of footage.

In March 2013, The Wrap reported that Paramount changed a scene in the film in which the characters speculate that the zombie outbreak originated in China in hopes of landing a distribution deal in China.Pitt also revealed that several of the scenes shot in Budapest were dropped from the final cut in order to water down the film's political undertones, and steer it towards a more generally friendly summer blockbuster.

Release

World War Z was initially slated for release by Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions on December 21, 2012, but in March 2012 it was pushed back to June 21, 2013, with Paramount electing to release Jack Reacher on the December 2012 date.