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When The Zombie Apocalypse Comes, Brad Pitt Will Be At Your Side!!
Merrick here...
MTV spoke with WORLD WAR Z author Max Brooks about the status of Paramount's forthcoming film adaptation of his book (available HERE
).
During their discussion, Brooks revealed that Brad Pitt is now attached to star in the picture…which is still slated to be directed by Marc Forster (QUANTUM OF SOLACE, the way under-appreciated STRANGER THAN FICTION 
) .
Given that Pitt's production entity (Plan B) is a driving force on this project, Brad's involvement had been rumored/assumed for some time - but this is the first official confirmation of his attachment.
Brooks, son of Mel, says his similarly themed publications ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE
and ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE: RECORDED ATTACKS 
have been optioned by Paramount as well.
More details over at MTV (HERE).
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might be fun!
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The book was amazing. I can't wait to see the battle of Yonkers on screen.
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Jul 22, 2010 9:28:37 AM CDT
I love the book - this will be tricky to translate without..
by vic twenty
coming off silly. Some of the vocal performances on the audio version were a bit "hammy".
Still, Pitt in a zombie movie! In the Post-Zombieland world, with The Walking Dead soon to be on AMC, could my favorite living dead folk be going mainstream?
ALL HAIL THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE!! -
World War Z is going to be impossible to adapt well... but the Survival Guide as a movie? How the hell is that one going to work? What were the suits smoking there?
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So I presume that Pitt plays the narrator / author / interviewer?
Yonkers will be good, but there are other sequences in the book far more stunning than just Zombies vs Army on the streets of NYC. It makes me wonder what they will leave out, and also if they will dare to present it as per the book - a series of recollections - or will they not have the courage and give us something more like a traditional linear film?? -
for a Will Ferrell film is zero, how is it mathematically possible for Stranger Than Fiction qualify as underappreciated?
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Sounds good to me...
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The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that they will fuck it up. The book was so effective (and chilling) because the method of storytelling - as a series of interviews documenting the event after it had happened - made it all feel so incredibly plausible.
Take that away and you've got NOTHING, it's just another Zombie movie
You know what Hollywood does with nothing? That's right, they film it and release it anyway! -
Since Romero only has ONE zombie movie that holds up today (NOLTD) many directors have made far superior zombie movies to anything else he has fucked up. Now, WWZ will no doubt blow away anything Romero has done, because it will actually have good actors. Romeros zombie career=R.I.P. about 8 pictures too late. Long live Max Brooks.
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It's been said before, but how exactly is this movie going to translate as anything but a series of vignettes? And how is Pitt going to be in more than one?
Nevermind the fact that having a guy like Brad Pitt in the film will completely undermine the bizarre "actually fairly believable, in a sense" vibe the book had going on. -
Love it -- the performance of Will Ferrell's career. I think it comfortably sits beside ETERNAL SUNSHINE for something high concept and deeply human. If you haven't seen it, do so.
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One of the best and funniest zombie movies ever; must have got lost because it was made in Canada. The *best* (read: nearly hard science) explanation of why zombies happen.
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Now all that needs to happen is for Pitt to drop out of the production when they won't bow to all of his script changes, and then they can make a masterpiece like Aronofsky did with "The Fountain".
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The book didn't really have a main protagonist.Also, I didn't like it very much. A bite-only transmission method wouldn't obliterate the world population like it does in WWZ. You'd need all dead corpses coming to life, Romero-style, for that to happen.
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Great book, script sounds like it is excellent, hope they start production soon
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Pitt is one of the best, and World War Z is one of my favorite reads of the last 10 years. Can't wait!
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He'd play the United Nations Postwar Commission conducting the interviews and if they're smart they'll get an interesting mix of character actors and big names to cut to when the stories are told vignette style.
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It just started to get old about 3/4 of the way through. Without a main character of any kind to really root for, it ended up a little too much like a zombie short story compilation.
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I remember ready on this site a while back that someone has gotten a hold of one of the scripts and they were completely blown away by the dept. I think they compared it to something like Shawshank Redemption.
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No bones about it, this is going to straight up be the best zombie movie ever. It might be hard to pull it off, but if they get it right, it's going to be huge.. . .annd, I'm out of penis jokes.
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edit button please
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but a few of the early stories were good. studs terkel wants his paycheck
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www.aintitcool.com/node/3616 8
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Jul 22, 2010 10:14:42 AM CDT
That is a DAMN fine book. Think it'd make a better TV series th
by mr nicholas
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With a single action sequence after the QoS debacle.
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. . . WAY too high. If this isn't done EXACTLY like the book, as a mockumentary type deal, it will be a big disappointment. There is no recurring character other than the interviewer. Who else could Pitt play that wouldn't make his on-screen contribution little more than a tiny cameo?
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Pretty cool... saw it in theaters here in Toronto.
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... Zombie Survival Guide has already been done as a little gem of a movie called Zombieland... and it was more entertaining than your book, too (sorry).
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http://www.aintitcool.com/node/36168
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The injured soldier from Yonkers and then the retaking of America has at least two, maybe even 3 or for appearences. He could also do that role, they could flesh it out a bit also, perhaps have him "advising" the Commission investigator.
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I am looking forward to this, but I am sure we will have a new president before we see it so..
I think this would have worked better as a Red Shoe Diaries kind of antholgy rather than a feature film. -
The Israelis realizing what's happening, closing borders before anyone else. Chinese government trying to supress the thruth. The horrible African plan that ends up winning the war for Humanity at terrible costs. Damn, I'll read it again.
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Those are only very mild ones, if someone think I've ruined their enjoyment.
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But I have misgivings about BP's involvement. This is a story that cries out for unknown actors portraying ordinary people...one look at a 'movie star' mug will take us right out of it.
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JMS wrote a script faithful to the book and it was rejected. You cant make a traditional horror movie from the book, many of the scenes are terrifying, but as a whole narrative isn't about building tensions. There are action sequences but trying to have one person or group involved with all of them would make absolutely no sense.
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"We will be cruel to the zombies, and through our cruelty they will know who we are. And they will find the evidence of our cruelty in the disemboweled, dismembered, and disfigured bodies of their brothers we leave behind us. And the zombie won't not be able to help themselves but to imagine the cruelty their undead brothers endured at our hands, and our boot heels, and the edge of our knives. And the zombie will be sickened by us, and the zombie will gurgle incoherently about us, and the zombie will fear us. And when the zombie shambles through town at night and they're tortured by their subconscious for the evil they have done, it will be with thoughts of us they are tortured with. Sound good?"
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Really enjoyable, and could be a good movie if done right. Unfortunately, I don't think it can be done right. This seems more like it'd be better as an HBO miniseries. Oh, and the audiobook rocks, too.
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Jul 22, 2010 10:51:03 AM CDT
I see this being similar to "Confederate States of America"
by discogodfather
Very clever, well done movie with some interesting ideas. But will WWZ be TOO similar? And will anyone other than me and the 4 other people who caught "CSA" by accident at 2:10 am on IFC care?
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I loved the book. And I don't know how it can be translated to film without being completely different. And the director completely fucked up Quantum Of Solace. It'll end up being Craig's second and last Bond, and that's a shame. The script was shoddy and compromised because of the writers strike, but the whole thing was directed like a made-for-TV Bourne rip-off, punctuated by drab, mishandled action. Colour me worried.
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I'd heard great things about it, mostly from this site, granted. But when I finally got my hands on a copy and read it for myself, I didn't think it was particularly good.Like many, I thought the book would be unfilmable without radical changes. And I had been told JMS had found a way.But that's not entirely true. There are significant changes.I would be interested in any other talkbackers opinion who had also read the script. Did it really live up to your expectations?
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The plague is not a "bite-only" transmission.
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and the blind Japanese guy appears more than once.The downed female pilot is a good story.Yonkers obviously.The Indian general on the mountain pass was a great story.Just pick the best ones and use em.
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and with the positive feedback from you guys, I'm going to pick it up. Just from what I'm hearing about it being a collection of short stories and interviews, an 8-10 epsiode miniseries on HBO would work best.
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like in "Book of Eli" to help inform the audience about whats going on would be helpful. That movie trick when used properly is a nice touch.
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I thought the JMS script was great actually. I think when people talk about changes, they are talking about squeezing all the stories into the film, which is frankly impossible without making a six hour long movie (guess we won't see that HBO miniseries). Also, JMS changed it in that the interviewer has an actual story arc - unecessary in the book, but definately needed for a film. I thought it was a really great translation of the material. I hope they go with it, but even if it's just a draft before the finished product, I'm sure it will be a solid script. Kudos to Pitt; hiring JMS was a great idea - he's perfect for this kind of script.
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The guy interviews all the people who tell the stories. I wonder which stories will make the cut. I'm sure the origin of the outbreak will be told. The Battle of Yonkers is a must. But there are so many small stories that were so great in World War Z. I loved the story of the guy in Japan who has to escape his highrise by climbing down the side. The story of the father who takes his family into Canada during the winter and the living people start eating each other. The story of the soldiers fighting in the pitch dark inside the sewers of Paris. There is just so mcuh good stuff that I don't think you will be able to please most fans of the book. In the case of the Zombie Survival Guide, it's one of my favorite zombie books. Brooks writes it like a real survivalist guide and doesn't crack a smile. That's what makes it such a great read.
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The greatest, most epic zombie film ever made.
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15 part mini, With Pitt doing voice over and having a little screen time. Going through chapter by chapter.
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with face huggers and the zombies birth a new undead alien menace. One strange side effect of the alien/zombie cross pollination is they now have pink bubblegum spit for blood
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... but Zombieland was overrated as hell and a Bill Murray cameo away from being a pile of shit that even Woodie Harrelson couldn't save. It was also came out 6 years after Zombie Survival Guide, a book wasn't even being discussed til you brought it up. What a douche . . .
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Jul 22, 2010 12:33:15 PM CDT
WRONG MOVE - should be a "Band of Brothers"-size Mini-Series
by dasheight
Seriously - the episodic and epic nature of the book PERFECTLY lends itself to that structure - Pitt's company could do a "Band of Brothers"/"Pacific"-size 8-part mini-series on HBO and absolutely stun people; cutting something of that size and episodic structure into a two-hour movie is a mistake.
It just can't possibly fit in even half of the material from the book.
Damn. I was hoping someone would have the sense to do it right. -
Can someone email it to me? I'm down with Brad Pitt being the interviewer, but I think most of the other roles need to be unknowns, or little knowns. I want HBO to do this as a miniseries.
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done effectively. Will need to be cgi I'm sure, but done right. 100,000+ swarming a small town...
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Do it. He was awesome in the audiobook.
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Jul 22, 2010 1:45:41 PM CDT
when in doubt(for next film role)...FIGHT ZOMBIES or VAMPIRES!!!
by idrinkyourmilkshake
Works for everyone the last 3 years!
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The Russians nerve gassing their own people. That could really play out as a "How much does Humanity suck?" scene.
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if the whole point is 'oh my god the main character in the movie can hear the narration' Will Farrell/the script/the director did a terrible job of having a realistic shocking reaction to that event. For good super natural comedies see Groudhog Day.
Stranger than Fiction is 1 step up from 'Click' -
Great performances from Ferrel, Gyllenhal and Emma Thompson.
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and all of the action would take place in flashback? There are scenes in that book that are screaming for epic film treatment, like the Yonkers scene and the part (Indonesia I think) where people are getting taken out by the thousands on the barges by zombies, and the ships start crashing into each other. Good stuff.The only problem I have with zombie films so far is that they're all small scale. Some of them, like both DOTD's show what's happening elsewhere, but then zoom in on a group of people and stay with them for the rest of the film. The source material for WWZ has the potential to spawn the first truly epic zombie film, and I want to see that.
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IMO kick ass!!!!
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I love the scene where the hip hop artist and his crew are chilling in the mansion and the zombies climb the wall.
MONEY scene! -
No Air Force pilot. No Indian general. No fighing in Parisian sewers. And for me, the biggest sin - No zombies tapping on submarines at the bottom of the ocean floor. And his idea for the "grand government conspiracy" that was out to silence the investigator was not the Africa Plan, but the failure of the U.S. government to put snipers in the high rises during the Battle of Yonkers (idea written complete with secret meeting and attempt to kill the investigator). A failed military maneuver that's being covered by thousands of people and hundreds of media would've sniffed that out in seconds. Don't understand why he went with that idea.With Brad Pitt set to put his mug on screen, you can pretty much bet it's not going to be a crapfest. While I agree that a cable tv 14-parter would be ideal, a 2-hour movie is doable.
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I am a huge fan of this book, and I am sure a 2 hour movie would be amazing, but doing this as a 6 part miniseries is the only way to go.
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I tend to agree with what's been said about a mini-series HBO style for WWZ, but I'm not going to look the gift horse in the mouth. With the project having a big name attached I'm hoping it will attract other talent and in turn perhaps expand those parts. The story is bookended by the soldier who witnesses the loss at Yonkers and the re-taking of the American coast. That character alone can serve as a catalyst for the other and I can almost see the "Saying Goodbye" chapter montage (complete with tear jerker music) now.
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With the vignettes and everything. That could be the definitive zombie masterpiece of our time, actually, if done right and done well. The novel was REALLY cool. I loved how it was done like a Studs Terkel book, the whole oral history thing. Man, I hope they keep that kind of feel in the actual movie.
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what a pos that was.
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Jul 22, 2010 6:45:37 PM CDT
LaserPants, that is so perfect its guaranteed not to happen
by wickedjacob
I'm not excited in the least about this. I'm thinking Watchmen all over.
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That's only the set up. you just didn't get it.
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I like the bit in the book where the author wonders if the North Koreans are holed up in a huge subterranean cavern and have all become zombies... waiting for somebody to open the vault doors and let them out...
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Fuck!
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Lining up now.
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Shit, the downed airforce pilot and her story was a perfect, personal level counterbalance to the large scale chaos elsewhere. The more I hear, the more I fear that the people making this just don't "Get It" !
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Yonkers is a given, but I believe that there are a few more full movies worth of stuff.
/p
EP 2: The Reddiker Plan
EP 3: The Nuking of India
EP 3: Opening the Korean Vaults AKA What Happened in North Korea, anyway? (speculative)
/p
Each of these are sufficient to carry an entire movie. Especially if we can get Max Von Sydow to play Reddeker.
Each of these -
Since reading the book a couple of years ago i have been waiting for this film to be made. I just hope they do the book justice,but come on cant wait any longer
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