World War Z, Brad Pitt and director Marc Forster's adaptation of the Max Brooks zombie novel, is obviously in trouble at the moment. The Paramount film recently was revealed to be heading back for as much as seven weeks of reshoots (now said to be more like five) almost a year after the original production wrapped, and the picture's release date was pushed to June 2013 from a planned December release. So what went wrong?
The Hollywood Reporter has spoken to a bunch of insiders about the troubled production, with one of them claiming the project has been "a nightmare from top to bottom." Of course, this could all be spin from warring factions within the World War Z camp, but it's still fascinating, inside-baseball kind of stuff.
The issues reportedly began with Forster who, with little experience in visual-effects tentpole pictures, was hobbled as a leader. Industry vets were hired to head production departments, though they were not members of Forster's usual team, and the result was a "seemingly headless enterprise driven by conflicts."
As late as three weeks before World War Z's June 2011 production start, Forster had still not decided what the film's zombies would look like or how they would move. "They just couldn’t get it right," an unnamed source says. "There was a lot of spinning of plates, a lot of talking. [But] they did not have a plan." Positions like line producer and head of effects were filled and then dismissed and then re-filled.
Cinematographer Robert Richardson, an Oscar winner, reportedly asked to leave the production more than once. The DP also "struggled to impose order, antagonizing other crewmembers in the process."
And yet, it sounds like the film might still have a fighting chance. These same insiders claim that the first 45 minutes to an hour of the film are "great," and that it's mainly the ending that needs work. Paramount recently brought in Prometheus scripter Damon Lindelof to fix the third act of the film (though that's surely a puzzling move to many of the folks who left the theater scratching their heads after seeing Prometheus).
World War Z is a good book with some great potential as a film. Let's hope they work this out and the picture doesn't turn out to be a ghoulish mess when it finally hits next year. Well, not that kind of ghoulish mess…
Our brother site, ComingSoon.net, attended a Paramount presentation and got a sneak peek at a forthcoming trailer for the anticipated adaptation of World War Z! Read on for the goods...
"It begins with Brad Pitt's character sitting in traffic with his family. They're busy playing a game when a cop bashes on their window in a panic. Standing near the driver side window, the cop begs Pitt to stay in his vehicle and, soon thereafter, is pummeled by a bus careening out of control. An explosion erupts and a mass of people race down the city streets. Pitt and his family hop into an abandoned RV and we get a glimpse of the world in madness.
Beyond an unusual pair of eyes, we don't get a good look at World War Z's zombies, but the measures the uninfected take to reach safety might further confirm what last year's set footage revealed - that these zombies can run.
In the trailer, gigantic hordes of people are scrambling for dear life. They're not just pushing and shoving each other out of the way, rather climbing on top of each other and manically hanging onto a hovering helicopter.
In one of the trailer's final shots, there's a mountain of people trying to climb over a wall that must be hundreds of wriggling bodies high. The material is dark and downright horrifying, not only showing what could happen should the undead invade on a physical level, but also reflecting the societal meltdown that would ensue, and the pure chaos we'd be left with.
World War Z was certainly the crown jewel of the presentation and, based on the footage, looks to be well worth the wait."
Following last night's first reveal of footage from the upcoming World War Z, Paramount Pictures has released the first teaser poster from the Marc Forster film. Check it out below!
Coming to theaters on June 21, 2013, the action thriller stars Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, James Badge Dale, Matthew Fox and David Morse.
Based on Max Brooks' best-selling novel "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War," the story revolves around United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Pitt), who traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity itself. Enos plays Gerry's wife Karen Lane; Kertesz is his comrade in arms, Segen.
Click on the image below for a larger version and check back on Thursday for World War Z's full trailer.
Paramount Pictures has revealed the trailer for director World War Z, starring Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, James Badge Dale, Matthew Fox and David Morse. Directed by Marc Forster, the action thriller hits theaters on June 21, 2013.
Based on Max Brooks' best-selling novel "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War," the story revolves around United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Pitt), who traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity itself.
Paramount Pictures has released online their Super Bowl spot for World War Z, starring Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, James Badge Dale, Matthew Fox and David Morse. Check it out in the player below, courtesy of iTunes Movie Trailers.
Based on Max Brooks' best-selling novel "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War," the story revolves around United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Pitt), who traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity itself.
Directed by Marc Forster, the action thriller hits theaters on June 21, 2013.
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