The problems that have plagued WORLD WAR Z, the big ass zombie blockbuster film based on the big ass blockbuster book by Max Brooks, have been highly publicized. Perhaps that’s because we horror nerds love to magnify everything we hear about properties we love. Or perhaps it’s because All-World actor and celebrity Brad Pitt is involved as a producer and star of the show. Either that or because David Andrews is in it (he’s in JUSTIFIED and soon to be REVOLUTION; get with it, folks).
Whatever the reason, the production for WORLD WAR Z have been widely acknowledged and pontificated on the interwebs over the summer. First, they brought in LOST and PROMETHEUS writer Damon Lindelof to help with the third act of the script. He saw way more problems than that, and couldn’t be bothered with it, so he handed it off to buddy Drew Goddard, who has warmed our hearts with ALIAS, LOST and CABIN IN THE WOODS (I won’t mention CLOVERFIELD because my EIC hates it like I hate grape flavored drinks). As such, Goddard’s been in charge of rewrites, and then the story emerged that the film, which was scheduled for a December release, only had 52 minutes of workable footage (by this time I think we can agree that the lower running time for this movie the better). Needless to say, the movie’s release date was delayed, another death knell for a movie, all the way back to June 21st, 2013. Amidst all this crap, there has been rumblings about the strife between Brad Pitt and director Marc Forster (clearly he never actually found Neverland).
Now, in an interview, Brad Pitt suggests that he’s not worried at all about WORLD WAR Z, that it is a “monster” of a film (pun intended?) and that rewrites and changes aren’t unusual for a film of this size and scope, and that “we can do better.” Do we ignore all the other bad press and go with the man? I tend to think it’s all BS, that of course he has to say all of these things (and he has trouble putting it into words), but it’s still refreshing to hear what qualifies as good news for WORLD WAR Z. All the sadness and badness was getting more depressing than a zombie apocalypse.
WORLD WAR Z also stars Mireille Enos (THE KILLING), Matthew Fox (speaking of LOST), James Badge Dale (RUBICON) and David Morse (THE HURT LOCKER).
