Cool News
Holy Cow! They Signed A Director For WORLD WAR Z!!
Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.
And I’m actually really pleased by the choice.
Marc Forster’s going to direct the film, according to VARIETY, and considering what Forster’s strengths are as a filmmaker, I think he might be the perfect fit for the script that I think does a tremendous job of adapting the book by Max Brooks. This just became one of the most interesting films in development, especially with Plan B involved. I think they’ve demonstrated some consistently interesting taste so far, and this has a chance of being something that exists above and beyond anyone’s preconception of the genre. Verrrrrrrrrrrrry interesting.
Drew McWeeny, Los Angeles
Drew McWeeny, Los Angeles
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bring it on!
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Or am I confusing him with the guy who works at my local Borders?
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Plan B is Brad Pitt's production company. So, yeah... he's a fan.
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That's incredible news Moriarty! The book was plain incredible, the audiobook was just in a league of it's own! A director of this calibre is going to create something very special out of Max's work...
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The guy sure likes jumping genres.
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Nov 14, 2008 4:07:33 AM CST
I want a zombie movie set in a world where zombie movies exist.
by galactic
Not a comedy, either.
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Nov 14, 2008 4:08:30 AM CST
Does this mean the sequal will be based off the Survival Guide?
by dogsoup
Because this is such Cool news I really hope there's the chance of that...
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Is the book itself done tongue-in-cheek or right on deadly serious?
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They optioned it a couple years back, it's one of my favorite books ever. Brad Pitt must have awesome taste with this stuff because World War Z is awesome too, not to mention I don't think there's one movie they've been involved with I've seen that I haven't loved.
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There is nothing tongue-in-cheek to be found really in the entire book. At least, from what I remember... it's been over a year since I've read it.
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Nov 14, 2008 4:26:53 AM CST
"Black Hole" by Fincher should be fantastic
by spifftacular squirrel girl
Just re-read the graphic novel about a month ago and it's just hauntingly good.
Plan B seems like it's going to have a very cool slate of films on it's part. -
While I was cynical at first about the adaptation of a fantastically written novel, the prospects of this movie just shot up 400% with me. An excellent story, a very , a production company with a Best Picture winner under its belt and now a director who I'm yet to see put a directorial foot wrong (I haven't seen Stay yet :p ). I'm psyched for this one now!!
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It's hand's down my favorite book, printwise and in audio version. I'm relieved that they have someone worthy of directing. Now if they could only round up some of the audio cast for the film...
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I concur with cyrent.....and concur again that PlanB has some great projects in various stages of development.Brad Pitt recently bought the rights to an upcoming Paul Pope comic about giant-sized monsters fighting too.
What a Cool bastard..or should i say Basterd? -
For me, the guy simply doesn't have "it". In the same way Ratner doesn't have it, Guy Ritchie doesn't have it, Ed Zwick doesn't have it... Forster doesn't have it. They can all put one shot next to another, but they can't make a story live. Admittedly, I'm only basing this on MONSTER'S BALL, FINDING NEVERLAND and STRANGER THAN FICTION -- the word on KITE RUNNER and STAY weren't enough to get me into the theater -- but I found all three of them to be seriously mediocre films. (Some good performances in there, but at the service of completely pedestrian filmmaking.) I'll be catching Bond this weekend and hopefully it'll go some distance to changing my mind... but again, the advance word's not making me real hopeful.Obviously this is a matter of personal opinion -- some of my favorite directors (Wes Anderson, P.T. Anderson, Malick, Tarantino) are on others' lists of directors that leave them cold -- but there you have it.
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The book / story is in good hands w/ "Plan B" and Mr. Forster. I can't wait to see it happen on the big screen.
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Quantum of Solace was a fucking mess. Fact.
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I think he's a perfect fit for this flick.
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Is there any travasty Hollywood won't exploit? So how is this going to be told? By interviews and flashbacks?
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WORLD WAR Z has a fantastic factual reading-about-actual-history feel to it, absolutely terrifying the firts time you read it. If you needed to break away from the way the book is told (would be a documentary with lots of talking heads and not enough action) I'd go with a news network and several war correspondents from said network covering WWZ all over the world, through the major battles etc in the book, but covering the whole thing - from the first boy bitten and returned as a zombie to the aftermath and rebuilding of the world. This could be the biggest, best and most EPIC zombie movie EVER - and in PLAN B's hands it couldn't be safer. Colour me more excited for this than for AVATAR right now - which says something, 'cos AVATAR will SKULLFUCK YOUR EYES IN 2009!!!
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this is fucking great news, at last a chance to see a balls out global zombie flick, this is offically my no.2 cant wait movie behind avatar.. FUCK YES!!!!!! man still cant believe Foresters gonna direct a zombie flick.. the flesh eaters are about to go mainstream!
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This is great news, I truly hope they make this film as epic and serious as it deserves to be. The genre needs an 'epic', one that can be treated without falling into the goofy clichés that we usually get in 'horror'. There is no better source material for a serious, enormous classic 'zombie' film than World War Z.
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World War Z! Starring Gene Wilder, Dom DeLuise, Cloris Leachman, and Mel Brooks as the President!
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The bookies will give you good odds on that, if you fancy a quick bet.
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I highly recommend. Better than World War Z - much better. The best zombie story ever. I hope a movie follows soon.
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Perfectly made for it...episodic, epic, with a multitude of characters.
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Yonkers, the Chinese submarine, the blind old Japanese man and the story about the teenage Japanese loner.
Great book. Thanks to Mori for recommending it. ;) -
... STAY. It looked great but I didn't like it one bit.
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The book was great, the audiobook was pretty damn good as well - it had an awesome voice cast
Not too familiar w/ Forster, I'll definitely need to check out QoS now. As somebody mentioned, and based on IMDB, this seems a pretty big departure. Maybe it'll be good to have someone working in the shambling corpse genre who doesn't obviously have a predilection toward it. -
That totally slipped my confused mind. HBO makes great series' and at least they have the good sense to retire a series way before the show commits suicide.
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it has its moments, but, overall, i think it's not that great a story. the last third of it, especially, i hate. plus, i feel the book is full of easy coincidences and needless optimism in some section (yeah, i'm sure hollywood higher-ups would feel better about themselves if forced to farm). the chinese section is totally ruined by the ridiculous ending of that scenario.
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parts were very interesting.
Can't see it as a movie though
And have visions of Brad and Angie somehow becoming the central characters with lots of posing back to back with bottomless guns slaughtering the undead hordes.
Lots of gun-fu shit, sliding down polished hallways on their knees with their shoulders just an inch off the floor firing back down the hall as they slide just under a descending fire/security door.
Angie does the heroic scrafice saving a multi-national bussfull of young children, that Brad swears to raise as his own in her memory. -
...and didn't read it. Now I have to. Shit! Why no Altered Carbon movie in pre-prod? What the fuck?
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... if the scene underneath Paris is done properly, it could be scary as hell. But is that part in the script? I do have it, but I've never read it.
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The audiobook rocked. The voice actors (including Mark Hamill) really pegged it. If they do this right, it should be a good movie. Not high cinema, by any means, but...
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I love the book (having read it 3 times so far). I love JMS and all his assorted works. I love Marc Forster, Stranger than Fiction being one of the finest films ever made.
With any luck this should be fairly Awesome.
Plus, Brad Pitt is involved on some obscure lvl. I may not love the guy, but he's one of the only ppl to walk away from the Ocean films unscathed. The guys untouchable ;) -
...the guy who always stands out for me in the book is the Asian General. That guys a fucking hero :) And the S. African guy who plans humanity's survival. Theres some beautiful stuff in that book :)
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"OOOo Ratner can't do Conan, because Harry says Ratner sucks". "OOoo, Joe Johnston, how has made 2 kinda good movies, and several generic ones is a visionary genius and perfect choice for captain america, no matter that the Rocketeer was a Disneyfied snoozefest, because Harry said so!". "OOoo the director of a bunch of overly dramatic movies somehow has the chops and vision to make a zombie movie because Harry says so". This is ok news, at best. He has never made a horror movie before, and it's a specialized skill. If George Romero, Peter Jackson or Sam Raimi were making this movie, I could see the geekgasm, but WTF?! Stranger Than Fiction does not qualify one to make an epic scale zombie-pocalypse film.
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The book was awesome, but I think its much better suited to being an HBO series, something along the line of "Band of Brothers". Get Ken Burns to direct. As long as Angelina Jolie isn't involved...These days she can't act her way out of a paper bag.
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...Then saw the news about Danny Boyle wanting to maybe do "28 Months Later". Then I had a nightmare in which myself and friends were all being chased by super-zombies (a cross between Zach Snyder, Dawn of the Dead zombies, and rage virus infectees... basically rotting corpses that bled from the eyes and zipped around like the fuckin' Flash!). Super-zombies... I mean... what chance does that give you? Effed up, man... efed up. Anyway, loved the book and I'll keep my fingers crossed that they'll (for one) do it right.
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Man, this will be a giant film if they cram every story in.
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I look forward to this!
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You lost all credibility when you mentioned Forster in the same breath as Ratner. He's not Scorcese, but give me a break.
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from Moriarty's QoS review: "Marc Forster’s work in the film is a mixed bag. Like I said, I don’t think he’s a confident action filmmaker" Does that sound like a good choice for this film? This is a ZOMBIE WAR MOVIE!!!
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I'll just start referring to Ratner as "He who won't be named" so your irrational geek rage won't be roused in the future.
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Todd Waineo and the Battle of Yonkers, the pilot that goes down in Zombie Territory, the Vice President, Paul Redekker and the Japanese hacker. OH and the chick who's family "goes North".
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Google Simon Pegg's zombie article for all the reasons why zombies should ONLY shamble after you. They're relentless. Not mean.
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badass Bond, and the screenplay is by Babylon 5's JMS. I have high hopes for this.
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....How he'll film the North Korea chapter. Spookiest thing in the damn book. Maybe lots of CNN-style footage, looking through chainlink/DMZ long-range stuff, showing how busy it had all been just a week earlier, and then.....absolutely nothing. Vacant. Emptiness. And then the camera focuses on some of those low, rolling hills, while the South Korean narrator reels off his story.....Creepy as hell.....
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Dude loves his bleak, POV-hopping excuses to plumb the darkest recesses of human nature. But he probably thought a zombie movie was beneath him.
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The book was never about the zombies, it is the effects of the zombies invasion has on the people still living. World War Z should NOT be a horror film, because it simply is Not. The only story in the book that can even remotely be called "horror" is the one with the female pilot crashing her plane and has to make it back to civilization. The book was more about politics and the human stories behind the politics. This film would fail if it is turned into an action film, and judging from what Forster has done with Bond, he may be the wrong man for the job.
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Can't wait to see how they tackle this. Loved the book, just hope they do it as a serious war movie...but against zombies.
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could be epic
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that is all.
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This could be for the zombie/horror genre what The Dark Knight was for comic book movies. This could seriously become an epic movie. The book and audio book were very excellent by the way!
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I'm with you this time. The dude makes a sub-par Bond flick, and people want him to handle Zombies? Whuh?
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Remember the church in the Appalachia mountains? Not the most brutal of the stories but one of the most frightening and well crafted in it's presentation. Film it right and that could be bone chilling I think.
"I won't let them get you I WON"T LET THEM GET YOU!!".........
"They were big, soft arms"
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that is all. i agree with whoever said he is a serviceable pedestrian filmmaker and he certainly is not the man to make this epic and visionary. cuaron or innaritu would have been better, but forster is just incredibly bland and has no style to really call his own.
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Actually, Martin Campbell killed campy Bond. And this is at least a war movie. With zombies. How does ANYTHING Forster has made thus far apply to a post apocalyptic zombie war movie? This is like putting Kevin Smith in charge of a Bridge Too Far remake.
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Since he's attached to every single project out there. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE WORDS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF MY MOUF?" "Aaeerrrghhh....."
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That was a zombie moan btw.
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Romero gave us modern zombie horror. This movie would not have been made, and the book probably would not have been written if not for him. Philistine.
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do we all just give up?
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"I am Ibakusa" then uses trees and rocks and stuffs to beat up the zombies, make funny faces, and runs away by wall running up a huge boulder. Can you imagine Chris Tucker as Paul Redekker? that shit is gold man.... GOLD!!! That's it, I'm writing a letter to Ratner to tell him to direct this.
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If Haggis writes it, do we get racist white zombie cops fingerfucking Thandie Newton? Cause that would be hot.
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Howdy...lol.
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finally a reason to keep on living..after this im done with this planet...
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The book was absolutely incredible. Brooks must have done a heck of a lot of research, as the individual chapters spanned every topic imaginable, from submarine warfare to pharmaceutical marketing to K9 training. Yet despite the technical mastery, the dozens of characters all came to life without feeling flat or cliche at all. Some of these stories will have to be cut. That's just the nature of going from a 300+ page book to a two-hour film. It will be impossible to include everybody's favorite characters. (Me? I loved the blind Japanese servant and Maze, the K9 veteran.) At first I also thought maintaining suspense would be difficult, since you know the overall ending right from the start since it's bound to be flashback format as the survivors relate their individual stories. But most of these stories, despite knowing their protagonists survived to tell the tale, were still harrowing on the page anyway. Even more than the director, I'm curious to know who the screenwriter will be.
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Okay, I missed the previous story. So JMS has written a draft of the screenplay? Brilliant. As an old B5 fan (and even his work on that 1980s Twilight Zone revival) who came back to Amazing Spider-Man because he was writing it, I can't think of anybody better. Considering the buzz around the Changeling too (which I haven't seen), he seems to be improving with age.
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I was never really turned on to Zombielore, despite the movies and social references.But this book legitimately frightened me, and also made me feel like zombies could exist. Christ and a half, I want to go back and read this again.
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the book is incredible, plan b is the shit, forster could be really good, he better be!
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Nov 14, 2008 1:58:18 PM CST
Does anybody remember the sections of the zombies underwater
by lovecraftfan
It sounds cheesy but the whole idea that nest of zombies could be waiting for you just beneath the surface of the water really creeped me out.
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That's been done. recall the classic Shark vs. Zombie scene from "Zombie"?
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This one really creates a sense of dread. There are situations that anyone can relate to in the individual accounts of zombie mayhem. I hope the movie can do the book justice. The city battles, the dockyards, etc., will make this a must-see and an all-time classic if done right.
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why doesnt anybody do this? if a person were to die and there is as of yet no decay or serious damage to the musculature, then it stands to reason that when it reanimates it would be sprinting after you. after a length of time the body would start slowing down as it rotted. this way there could be a overwhelming outbreak to start the movie as there would be tons of fresh zombies chasing people down. as the story progresses you see more and more slow movers as the humans are more scarce and have found shelter (thus fewer fresh zombies).. but you would occasionally get a few sprinters ahead of the hoard. this would give you the immediate sense of danger (fast), combined with the impending sense of dread (slow). on a side note i dont want to see any more zombies crawling out from the grave. zombies crawling out from under the ground is absurd. they might reanimate.. but under 6 feet of dirt they wouldn't be able to move (i imagine creepy pounding and moaning in the graveyards... but little threat. zombies flooding out of the mourge yes, out of the ground... no.)
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Day by Day Armageddon does this. I believe it was attributed to high radiation levels (nuclear fallout) preserving tissue.
Day by Day is a pretty good short story, but WWZ dwarfs it in scope and intensity. It is pretty good, but it just ends abruptly. WWZ is far superior in every way - that is just my opinion, worth exactly what you paid for it. -
I'm glad he is nowhere near this.
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zombies on a submarine
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I'm with you. I've always found it funny that zombies are completely unheard of in zombie movies. But, I have the same thoughts about actors. When Nicholson plays Melvin Udall in AS GOOD AS IT GETS, is there still a Jack Nicholson? Would Melvin go into a Blockbuster and not be able to rent a copy of CHINATOWN or FIVE EASY PIECES? Or, do the movies take place in worlds where every character has an exact double who's a famous actor?
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look at "last action hero" when arnie and the kid go into a video store and every arnold move now features stallone instead. like arnie never existed... wierd!
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It has a zombie fighting a shark underwater. What're you waiting for?
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Even if you've read the book, it's worth buying and listening to. I can't imagine the movie coming close to the awesomeness of that. Except the Battle of Yonkers. I can't wait to see that in all its cluster fuck, lungs-getting-sucked-out-of-chest glory.
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As long as they don't try to make it family friendly, it'll be an awesome movie. Even if Brett Ratner directed it.
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us some classic zombie flicks his new stuff is downright terrible, infact watch day of the dead and listen to the bloody soundtrack. i mean what the fuck is going on there!!!??? no tension, no suspense just some cheap porno reject stuff thats all over the place and his last 2 flicks were abominations.. hence my quote, this is a fucking excellant story that needs a shitload of cash and a decent director and thankfuck were getting it
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Two hour mess of a movie.
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Stranger then fiction was sooo mind numbingly boring!
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Ok, so I’m telling my oldest daughter (who is an absolute “Zombie Survival Guide”, “World War Z” fan that a director has been chosen and that Mr. Pitt’s company, Plan B, is producing. She’s ecstatic, she knows that the story is in good hands BUT, she asks, “Are they going to have Max Brooks and the interviewer?” I had to tell her that I didn’t know. “He’s gotta be the interviewer! The way he writes prose… he’s gotta be the guy.” It just so happens I agree with her. Max Brooks would be absolutely perfect in the role; beyond a shadow of a doubt. Perhaps some of the actors from the audio book could be utilized as well; Alan Alda, Henry Rollins, Mark Hamill, John Turturro, and Rob Reiner would truly be feathers in the cap for this production. Seriously. Max Brooks, however, is a must. The Evil Chicken family is truly looking forward to this one.
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I, Robot
It will be World War Z in name only.
It will be a movie made up of long slo-mo dives, guns akimbo, centered on 2 or 3 characters -
I pray this gets done right. I can see it being an award winning zombie film if done so.
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Forster still has not made a wholly satisfying film. Prepare for a totally bland affair.
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...I don't know if Forster is a bad director, or someone who just sort picks bad films and does his best with them. I mean, I couldn't really point to anything in any of his films and say "Wow. Thats some bad direction." But I can't really think of anything aside from Halle Berrys tits that I marked as interesting in any of his films. He sure does make alot of them though, and they are diverse. He's a pretty boring choice for the material...But like I said, not necessarily a bad choice.
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http://tinyurl.com/5zqpbu
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Nov 14, 2008 11:29:25 PM CST
As long as they keep Forster away from the next Bond...
by wes_reviews_
I'm fine with him directing this. I probably won't see it. Just keep him away from the next and all future James Bond movies.
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http://www.youtube.co m/watch?v=hSPG9QQg4C0
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don't forget to shoehorn Sam Jackson in somehow
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Nov 15, 2008 9:12:11 AM CST
RE: the script - more of a dramatization?
by fathermcgruderkicksassforthelord
I just read back over Moriarty's linked post on the script, and maybe I'm just sleep-deprived, but I couldn't really tell from his descriptions what form the narrative structure takes.
I found myself listening to excerpts from the audiobook last night and wondering what Straczynski's approach to paring down & adapting it was.
Anyone else here read it? -
where Wolverine had become the Lord of the Vampires, and The Punisher was fighting them with garlic grenades, silver bullets, and stuff like that. Then, Dr. Strange died, and Frank became Punisher Strange. It was surreal to say the least.
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I realize many here love the book "World War Z," but I'm tired of zombie films. Dead, rotting tired of them.
I already know every single thing there is to know about zombies. Everything they do and eat, everyway they act and feed and get all creepy, and everyway humans react to them. So does everyone with even a measly bit of interest in movies. The "World War Z" guy may have written a great novel, but regardless of its director, I'm not interested in the film.
Thank fucking bananas "Avatar" is coming. There's a species I've never seen before, a species I've no idea how they act or what philosophy of life they'll maintain, or even how humans will react to them. It's brand new territory!
Unlike (yawwwwwwwn!) zombies. -
it should be 12 episodes with different directors to vary the tone of the stories.
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...and take a drink every time one of Forster's decisions causes an unintentional laugh. You'll be blotto before the halfway mark.
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Good enough movie, but Jeeze, Forster's newly responsible for the newest evolution of crappy action directing - the close-up shakey cam. It makes you mildly ill while making it nearly impossible to actually tell what is happening. You could tell Forster had never directed an action movie before, because he hid his action scenes behind an epilieptic cameraman. My expectations for WWZ just dropped.
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