World War Z

Last July we found out that Brad Pitt would lead the adaptation of Max Brooks global apocalypse book World War Z, and shortly thereafter a leaked Paramount e-mail confirmed the project’s priority status. However, it’s been about nine months since the, and no development seems to have surfaced. Now Vulture says that’s because Paramount is having some trouble finding a co-financier to help fund the film’s $125 million+ budget. But the worst part is that unless someone steps up to the plate, the adaptation from Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace) could end up dead in the water. Anyone have millions of dollars lying around?
Thankfully, frequent funding friend David Ellison (of Oracle Corp.) might be part of an eleventh hour effort to get the film off the ground. Paramount Film Group President Adam Goodman says, “We’re really committed to making a big, kick-ass giant movie with Marc Forster and Brad Pitt.” Though studios have had trouble with high profile, high concept properties recently (see Universal’s misstep with At the Mountains of Madness), this one seems like less of a problem considering Forster has already agreed to a PG-13 version of the story.

Read more/discuss. Thanks Sandra.

Comic-Con is barely underway in San Diego and we already have some big news from the show floor!

While chatting up “World War Z” author Max Brooks at the booth for comic publisher Avatar Press, the writer confirmed to MTV News that the adaption of his novel about the zombie apocalypse is not only moving forward, but Brad Pitt is now officially attached to star in the film. Additionally, Brooks revealed that Paramount has optioned the movie rights to two more of his projects: “The Zombie Survival Guide” and “The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks” graphic novel.

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Paramount isn’t letting the zombies off the lot just yet, renewing the option to make “World War Z,” a bigscreen adaptation of Max Brooks’ best-selling post-apocalyptic tome about a worldwide infestation of flesh-eating zombies.
Filmmaker Marc Forster is developing the project, while Brad Pitt’s Plan B shingle is producing.

In his tome, Brooks — son of Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft — tells the tale of a researcher for the U.N. Postwar Commission who interviews survivors from all over the world in order to put together a post-mortem on a war that destroyed every country around the globe.

Brooks, attending C2E2 last week in Chicago, told MTV.com that Matthew Michael Carnahan is doing a rewrite of Michael Straczynski’s adapated script for Paramount.

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If you haven’t read it, “World War Z” is one of the sharpest books to be released in the past decade. Set in a grim possible future, the book is presented as a series of interviews with survivors of a globe-spanning zombie war, an incident which very nearly brought about the downfall of human society. Author Max Brooks, the son of Hollywood filmmaker Mel Brooks, employs the full spectrum of commentary to create a frighteningly believable scenario in which the human race responds to a complete societal breakdown.

Last week, I had the opportunity to speak with Brooks, who is busy promoting his upcoming appearance on the Starz Inside special Zombiemania, premiering October 13 at 10pm. He was more than happy to discuss the adaptation plans for “Z,” which was picked up by Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment a few years ago.

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