http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816711/

excellent book and i cant wait to see the film

it says its planned for release in 2008 but i find that unlikely since the script is still being written

2/22/2008 12:25:33 AM

wat

2/22/2008 12:31:17 AM

Hell yes, love Max Brooks.

2/22/2008 12:35:36 AM

this makes me happy inside

2/22/2008 8:05:24 AM

awesome, the book was great

2/22/2008 8:08:00 AM

One of the only books I've read all the way through

I'll for once be on the same level as my dork friends who have read the book for 60 percent of the movies I see with them

2/23/2008 1:11:47 PM

i'll be interested to see how they do it

2/23/2008 7:02:57 PM

ya me too, its gonna have to be pretty epic with lots of characters

so to bide time until there is more info on the movie

what scenes from the book would you like in the movie

the zombies attacking the chinese nuclear sub

the blind guy fucking up the zombies with his kung fu

also bradd pitt may be in it

Quote :

"You all know the novel World War Z?" asked Straczynski of his audience during a New York Comic-Con panel on Friday. "I'm adapting that for Paramount. For Brad Pitt potentially — we'll see what happens. He might be the star in it. So things are going very well for a TV guy."

interview with max brooks

Quote :

"I’m sure they will Max, now let's talk about the film. How much control have you had so far over the whole proceedings and how much input will you get over the actual film? As far as the film goes, let's never forget one all important fact. It's my book, my idea, my inspiration, my passion ... so basically I have zero control. I'm actually okay with that. Seriously, I got all the control and creativity I needed writing the book. I'd don't want to see that diluted by dealing with a studio. I'd much rather step back and see the movie as a fan. Of the excerpts in the book, are there any you'd hate to see dropped if running time becomes an issue? I hate to play favourites. I'd be very curious to see which ones they chose. There are so many considerations when making a movie; budget, marketing, star power, etc. I'll be curious to see which ones make the cut. Do you have any actors in mind for the more memorable characters, like Saladin Kader, Breck Scott, Sean Collins, Roy Elliot, Christina Eliopolis, Tomonaga or the main character doing the interviews, who is you I believe? Who do you want to play you, or are you angling to play yourself maybe? Oh who wouldn't love to see Brad Pitt play them in a movie, but with my luck (and looks) they'll give it to "Ducky" from "Sixteen Candles". "

[Edited on February 24, 2008 at 3:34 PM. Reason : .]

2/24/2008 3:25:39 PM

I'll hold my breath. I think the books are awesome, but adapting these things, especially with so many characters, is always tricky. For every Lord of the Rings you've got ten Starship Troopers sitting out there.

Should be interesting to see how it develops.

2/24/2008 3:31:55 PM

I think my fav of the stories was the one about the Japanese kid who had to escape his apartment and ended up finding the katana in the old man's chest. But I'm pretty sure they will have to include the one of the first military attack against the zombies where they failed horribly and the other one when they were in the desert and the zombies bodies just kept piling up in a giant wall.

2/24/2008 4:56:05 PM

yea i enjoyed the yonkers NY story, then the one later on when the military finally figures out how to fight.

2/24/2008 5:35:00 PM

i may have to reread the book again soon

2/24/2008 6:02:39 PM

yonkers will def be in it

2/24/2008 9:53:07 PM

i'll have to reread the book, some of the stories weren't that clear the first time through. Was Yonkers the one where they were holding against the zombies north of new york? With all the high tech bombs and shit that did absolutely nothing to the zombies and ended up with the forces being routed...

The battle I thought was 'great' was the bridge crossing, where the used biochemical weapons on the humans inorder to weed out the infected zombies.

2/24/2008 11:31:08 PM

^Yeah that was Yonkers. They had giant artillery shells and all that and the zombies just kept coming. I remember at one point the guy who was telling the story said that he was in a trench or a crater or something that a bomb had left and a gnashing head or something landed right on top of him. That would be some crazy shit. I think just the stories of "The Great Panic" would be really good to watch.

2/25/2008 10:50:51 AM

it would be awesome to do this as a band of brothers style series, vice a movie

2/25/2008 11:00:19 AM

Quote :

"The battle I thought was 'great' was the bridge crossing, where the used biochemical weapons on the humans inorder to weed out the infected zombies. "

that was on the border of pakistan and afghanistan i believe

rereading now

2/25/2008 4:36:38 PM

Oh yeah was that the one when there was the bombs planted under ground and the detonator failed so the famous war general ran out to the thick of the zombies and blew it himself?

2/25/2008 4:48:26 PM

no, that was a different story and it was in either india or pakistan/afghanistan i believe

my story was that they were using artillery and heavy battery units (tank squads) to police an immense crowd of people crossing over a large bridge that had a zombie horde approaching in the distance. This made no sense to the tank driver and the crowd was getting ridiculously unruly, but then the units got the orders to get in their tanks and seal all the hatches. Once they got in, fighter-bombers flew in over head and dropped chemical weapons that brutally killed all the humans.

However, those who were zombies rose in a few minutes and the squads picked them off before driving off and detonating the bridge. I'm pretty sure it was American, for some reason.

2/25/2008 5:10:58 PM

Quote :

"Oh yeah was that the one when there was the bombs planted under ground and the detonator failed so the famous war general ran out to the thick of the zombies and blew it himself? "

no that was india

Quote :

" I'm pretty sure it was American, for some reason. "

that was def pakistan and a bordering country b/c it started off with the whole bit on how everyone thought that pakistan and india would nuke each other, but it was pakistan and their ally who helped supply them with nucleur capabilities (which is why i think its afghanistan)

2/25/2008 8:08:09 PM

The pakistan Iran border there were nukes, the chemical weapons were in the Ukraine, pg 116 Turning the Tide chapter

2/25/2008 8:55:48 PM

Man, this was one of my favorite books in a long time....

I'm pretty sure they'll have the ground zero in China story as well as the first outbreak in South Africa.

2/26/2008 7:43:59 PM

this movie will have to be pretty dark and disturbing if they include the Redeker plan, which i'm sure is absolutley necessary...

SWEET

2/26/2008 8:56:18 PM

def cant wait to see the battle at hope


nothing like being surrounded by a wall of dead zombies!

also i found this


'World War Z' Script (1st. draft) Leaked

Reproduced from an article at http://www.iesb.net


One of IESB's readers, the 'Angel of Death', got his hands on the World War Z script and sent in a review. See his thoughts below:
"World War Z, as a screenplay, is the greatest handling of the living dead since Romero’s quadrilogy. And the first zombie script to have me wondering “Can a zombie film win an Oscar?”

This script is done, there, at the level of perfection. The final greatness of this project is no longer in Straczynski’s hands: he’s done his job. He’s delivered a piece of screenwriting that, if translated correctly, will have affected a genre classic. We can all now only pray that this gets the director it deserves: Ridley Scott, David Fincher, Spielberg (Just hear me out - “Munich” Spielberg), Soderbergh – someone capable of handling a political thriller/David Lean style epic with an edge, which just happens to have a zombie outbreak as a backdrop – and that it is, by God, not messed with…

From perusing the novel’s first few pages, I found myself wondering that old anxious thought of “How the hell are they going to make this into a movie?!” It just seemed far too expansive and too much of a straight-fact reporting of an event, however brilliant in the execution and detail I was seeing, to be translated into film. Guess that’s why they didn’t hire me.

Straczynski brilliantly finds a way into adapting the novel, drawing on a technique employed in the past in such films as Cronenberg’s “Naked Lunch” and, to a more obvious degree, “Zodiac” the film is about the events which ostensibly led to the novel’s writing, with a surrogate for the author as our hero. In this case, the commission of a report on the recently contained zombie outbreak which ravaged our world in the film’s story.

The script begins with GERRY, a United Nations investigator, being charged with writing up the aforementioned report in a post zombie apocalypse ravaged world by a friend and superior, ROBERT MCENROE. The job will be a thankless and incindiary one – writing a report no one will want to read, uncovering truths no one wants uncovered… But Gerry is the perfect man for the job, having written similar reports in the past and having no political axes to grind.

Gerry’s reluctant at first, feeling he should spend every waking moment with his wife KARIN and their children now that the state of the world is less turbulent – but is ultimately swayed by a very simple and poignant point: the task would be one of the most normal undertakings anybody has attempted in a long while. Or at least that’s what we are led to believe thus far…

The visual representation of this ‘’post-war” environment is striking, profound and eerie. Power is slowly being restored. A great many places are all but desolate wastelands. Rooms are lit with candles, etc.

Those of you who wanted a more expansive exploration of this idea from “28 Weeks Later” are in for a real treat with this film – it embellishes that to a gut wrenching and highly detailed degree, simply epic in its attention.

Gerry’s journey takes him all over the world in an attempt to piece together what caused the outbreak and who was responsible for its handling turning out so badly. Questions which, in today’s political climate, could very easily get a nosy person killed – by our own government. A threat Gerry faces in the script, as in any self-respecting political thriller.

His quest begins in China where he meets with a doctor who witnessed the first reported attack and subsequent fire bombing of the Chinese village where the incident occurred. The doctor’s recount is enough to shake Gerry into taking him up on his urging to go see a colleague of his who knows how the infection spread beyond China. Gerry’s progress is challenged by subtle insinuations of forceful deterrence from various officials, but he presses on nonetheless, and this next illumination of the manner in which the undead phenomenon escalated solidifies his desire to persevere and uncover every facet of the truth behind the most horrific disaster in human history.

Paranoid about the horrors of organ trafficking? You’ll be very afraid when you see what that leads to in this universe. (Of course, once the film’s released, it might result in a decided decline in the practice, which wouldn’t be bad…) And so begins the second act.

Throughout this, we’re treated to astounding and terrifying flashbacks of the plague via testimony by the various officials and civilians Gerry questions during the course of his reporting:

…just when you thought it was safe to back in the water – zombies emerging from the Florida ocean and obliterating beach goers (if you go out and buy the novel, I strongly suggest reading it at home, behind locked doors)…

…A testifying witness laying eyes on the sight of a mother devouring her infant son – and countless other images of such primal terror, I couldn’t believe I was getting in one film…

And whenever Gerry feels it might be time to throw in the towel – either due to his own reservations or continued pressure from McEnroe to ease off – we’re treated to a flashback of Gerry’s own personal struggles during the zombie crisis as he and his family fled North (the reason provided giving sublime credence to the ever popular notion which many a Romero character has had before) which spur him forward further and further as he’s reminded of the suffering humanity experienced and the service his reporting will ultimately perform.

Perhaps the most startling revelation occurs at the script’s half way point wherein Gerry uncovers the nugget that our very own Central Intelligence Agency was presented with a report of the encroaching plague by the Israeli government, who first identified the threat, and dismissed it as hoax – a perfectly understandable reaction, but for the overwhelming evidence to the contrary in this situation…

As his reporting comes to an end, Gerry is treated to a fateful encounter with the Vice President . The VP tries to strong arm him into writing something that will please all parties, giving an official position that will have audiences howling at the brilliant satirical shadings sprinkled throughout.

And as the second act comes to a close, Gerry is giving a final ‘warning’ by ‘the Administration’ which could seriously influence his decision to submit his report in its current state - getting dangled over the lion’s pen (literally) and sent a message that’s hard to dismiss…

All this ultimately leads to not only the report’s submission in all its penetrative glory, but a final character break-down sequence and revelation that is simply shattering and the final word – an absolutely perfect visual demonstration and assertion - on George Romero’s view of “We’re them and they’re us.” It will shake you to your core. All I say is, you’ll never look at soup the same way again…

Finally, the origin of Max Brook’s novel is cemented at the film’s end in a clever and satisfying way, leaving you with a warm and fuzzy feeling usually reserved for a courtroom drama and, as I said before, recalling that earlier piece of investigative moviemaking, “Zodiac.”

The interweaving of flashback throughout the screenplay is superb. The script is riddled with Oscar speeches you’d expect to find in “Good Night and Good Luck,” “Syriana” and other films of the like. The characterizations are razor sharp and the imagery is searing. The thematic layering is mature and subtle and of the highest caliber.

Needless to say, I’m now something of a fan of J. Michael Straczynski and Max Brooks.

This is definitely not something fat headed teens will be renting and watching at sleep overs either. It is simply too sophisticated.

Horror fans, zombie fans, and fans of classic cinema need to send up a thousand prayers that this is handled reverently and expertly – if it is, it will be the horror film to beat for years to come after its release. One for the books. Second only to Romero’s trilogy – the progenitor of the phenomenon – the best living dead story since he created the genre."

Script Information:

Written by J. Michael Straczynski

Revised First Draft - April 30, 2007

127 pages


BOO YAH!


[Edited on February 26, 2008 at 9:55 PM. Reason : .]

2/26/2008 9:42:57 PM

estimated release date has been up dated to 2010

looks like this thread is a lil premature

3/14/2008 10:09:34 PM

by then i'll forget about it then be reminded of it closer to 2010 and be pleasantly surprised

3/15/2008 12:48:17 AM

wtf is this?

5/26/2011 3:13:38 PM

^Thanks!

--

http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/movie-news/world-war-z-begins-filming-next-month.php

5/26/2011 3:17:08 PM

Thank God. I was beginning to feel sure they were just going to let it die after all that fuss a while back.

This has the potential to be a truly spectacular movie.

5/26/2011 3:49:49 PM

I get my zombies confused

Are these slow stumbling Night of the Living Dead style zombies or fast Usain Bolt Resident Evil style zombies?

5/26/2011 4:10:57 PM

relatively slow, iirc. Easy to out run just a few.

Honestly, I'd rather see this as a mini-series than a movie. There are too many great stories that will get cut due to time contraints. But... still glad it's getting made vs not being made.

5/26/2011 4:20:35 PM

slow zombies.

last i heard they were having trouble getting funding for an R-rating. did they back it to PG-13? if so,

5/26/2011 6:04:50 PM

Who wants to see a PG-13 zombie movie? Might as well make it a Disney cartoon

5/26/2011 10:23:10 PM

I'd LOVE to see a Disney zombie cartoon!

Really really liked the audio book (abridged) over the book book. They did a pretty good job with most of the voices.

Also literally millions of slow zombies > a few fast zombies.

5/27/2011 10:09:15 AM

it's been a while since i've read the book, but what about it would demand an R rating? I thought AMC's version of The Walking Dead was more or less as graphic as anything I can recall in WWZ -- it has a TV14 rating.

WWZ is not Dead Snow (zombies and fun "kills" pretty much for the sake of it) -- I like some of that kind of stuff, but WWZ isn't a blood and guts "zombie genre" story and I seriously hope it's not that kind of movie - which I don't think it will be.

I guess I'm neither here nor there on the rating. I think PG-13 will be fine if it's done right.

5/27/2011 1:57:59 PM

I only go to R rated movies

5/27/2011 2:26:24 PM

I could be mistaken but I think World War Z had a number of scenes featuring zombified children and babies. That may be something the censors won't like. It isn't really vital to the story of World War Z though so I don't think it would be an issue if something like that is cut.

5/27/2011 2:55:02 PM

yea and i'd be cursing a lot if i was anywhere near zombies.

R for Realism

5/27/2011 5:37:17 PM

awesome, I thought this project was done for

5/28/2011 12:45:06 PM

I liked the story of the Australian astronaut on the ISS during the whole thing.

5/29/2011 3:48:30 AM

bttt

I'm AstralAdvent and i approved this message.

6/17/2011 1:41:46 AM

Redeker Plan was really good. The one were the solider was going to kill his CO for abandoning the town was also awesome.

Whoever voiced the downed cargo pilot on the audiobook was damn good

6/17/2011 10:53:49 AM

Quote :

"http://www.avclub.com/articles/matthew-fox-and-ed-harris-likely-joining-world-war,57556/"

Looks like things are moving along nicely.

6/23/2011 5:56:39 PM

A while back I was really bored and read five or six zombie books. World War Z was by far my least favorite. I'm curious as to how it'll be turned into a movie though since wasn't the book a bunch of "interviews"?

6/23/2011 6:18:54 PM

i imagine there will be "flashbacks" as the interviewees speak. it's the pretty standard model for that type of thing.

6/23/2011 6:24:45 PM

I'm stupid for accidentally putting that link in quotes.

But not as stupid as wolfpack0122 for putting World War Z at the bottom of his list of zombie books.

6/23/2011 6:37:26 PM

yeah, i'm very curious to hear which 4 or 5 zombie books topped World War Z.

6/23/2011 7:01:16 PM

Quote :

"yeah, i'm very curious to hear which 4 or 5 zombie books topped World War Z. "

Just got back around to seeing this thread. The books I read were:

Morningstar Strain Series books (i.e. Plague of the Dead, and Thunder and Ashes)
Day by Day Armageddon
Beyond Exile (aka Day by Day Armageddon 2)
Tooth and Nail

I liked each of those better than World War Z. Although, the second part of Beyond Exile was getting a little to far "out there" for me and I don't think I'll read the third when it comes out.
I was able to read each of those in 3-5 days (per book) but it took me about 3 weeks for World War Z. It just never got interesting to me. I kept reading thinking it would get better since it had a good following, but nope. I'm pretty sure I've read text books more intereting than "Z"

7/16/2011 10:52:30 AM

I was very interested in Day by Day Armageddon until I read the sample chapter:

http://tacticalunderground.us/JLBourne_website/assets/DbDAexcerpt.pdf

Very far fetched stuff. I might still pick it up though

7/16/2011 11:38:16 AM

i've read the day by day armageddon books.. they were entertaining, but IMHO not anywhere close to being in the same league as world war z. haven't read the others.

ha, i never found WWZ remotely boring.. was a page turner for me.

(semi-related, i did read pariah by bob fingerman and it was a good story focused on a small group of survivors.)

7/16/2011 11:41:08 AM