Without a doubt Max Brooks' "novel" World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is one of the most fascinating reads I've experienced in the last decade. It is so multi-faceted involving various political, economic, and cultural intrigue that I was blown away. When I discovered the book was being made into a film I was immediately leery. You see Brooks' novel isn't exactly a novel. It's more a record (from a reporter's POV) of various parts of the war in different countries and the individual experiences of people on the front lines. All in all it's a very different novel. Furthermore, when I heard Brad Pitt was going to be in the lead role and that the movie was veering far off course of the book, I became even more disillusioned.
And now this news.
According to "The Hollywood Reporter" World War Z is messier than a zombie head--post shotgun blast. The film (originally intended to be the first in a trilogy) was supposed to release this Christmas. However, the studio decided that the film needed a massive script rewrite and brought Damon Lindelof in. Consequently, there is going to be an additional 5 TO 7 WEEKS of reshoots this fall. This is virtually unheard of, especially for a film that was by all rights in the can.
Moreover, director Marc Forster (hand picked by Pitt incidentally) has had a constant struggle with the visuals throughout filming, and apparently clashes between cinematographer Robert Richardson (Hugo) and visual effects supervisor John Nelson (Gladiator) have been epic. Forster was also not permitted by the studio to bring in his own production team. Also get this: HE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HOW THE ZOMBIES WOULD LOOK LIKE OR MOVE three weeks before the production. Wow. Just wow.
But like old rap group Onyx once wrote, wait it gets worse.
There was apparently a "minor" incident where a Hungarian anti-terrorism unit raided an airport and confiscated 85 fully functional automatic assault rifles that were to be used in the film. WTF was the studio thinking? Have they ever heard of props?
The phrase "hot mess" doesn't begin to describe this film. With a budget already heading north of $170 million dollars, I could see this film being another John Carter box office flop. Forget about a trilogy* I'm worried that this film will even release.
World War Z's release date is scheduled for summer of 2013. Hopefully.
*To paraphrase former Indianapolis Colts coach Jim Mora, "Trilogy?? Trilogy?? Are you kidding me? You're talking about a trilogy? I'm just wondering if we're going to release the first movie! Trilogy??!!"
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