World War Z

"World War Z," a novel written by Max Brooks about zombies attacking the world and the human war against them is being made into a film as I reported here. The film is in the works with Marc Forster ("Quantum of Solace") in the director's chair. J. Michael Straczynski ("Changeling" and the upcoming "Forbidden Planet" remake) will be penning the script for the zombie flick.

Straczynski had an interview with MTV News and discussed the scale of "World War Z."

“We talk about it as a thriller, the closest comparison being ‘The Bourne Identity,’” explained Straczynski. “Most zombie movies to this point have been small, focusing on a few people in a house. And this has got real scare. You’re in India with hundreds of boats trying to get out of there with a tidal wave of zombies. The scale of what we’re doing here is phenomenal.

“Now that Marc is here, I’m working with his notes to make one final pass on the script,” said Straczynski. “Our hope is to get it moving into production by the first of the year.”

Straczynski's plans for the movie will take the United Nations agent who is the writer of the book out to the actual places that are mentioned in the stories told in "World War Z." The agent writes the stories through accounts from people who were witnesses or were involved in zombie attacks. The movie sounds like it will be more of a documentary type of film, following the agent as he gets his stories.

“The fictional concept of the book is that its written by someone with the UN, so let’s tell that story,” Straczynski explained. “Let’s show the book being written. We follow this guy all over the world as he goes on these interviews, and he has his own personal story as well. You’re cutting between the past and the present, how he got to this point.

“It has that international feel to it, and because it goes backward and forward in time, we can cherry-pick our favorite moments in the book,” continued Straczynski. “Some of it is crazy in scale. It’s huge. It’s as political as the book was. And it ends with that book being completed.”

Will this style of film-making go well with the audience and fans of the book?
We will have to wait and see for the film to come out sometime in 2010.
More news to come! Catch ya' later!