Max Brooks wrote the sequel to The Zombie Survival Guide back in 2006. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is written as a non-fiction book recounting the the stories of several survivors from around the world. A deadly virus has broken out, nearly wiping out all of mankind. Ten years after the war has ended Max Brooks goes around the world interviewing some of the survivors to gauge their stories. A fictional tale very cleverly written it instantly gained a cult following. Now it is to be turned into a film, the world will soon become familiar with the story and fans of the book are wondering whether it can be interpreted just was well on the big screen.
Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment
Initially Leonardo Di Caprio's production company Appian Way were interested in securing the rights to the film. However so too was Brad Pitt's company, Plan B Entertainment. Soon a bidding war had been initiated. In 2007 it was Brad Pitt's company who secured the rights and a screenplay writer was quickly hired in J. Michael Straczynski, creator of Babylond 5 and Rising Stars. German-Swiss filmmaker Marc Forster, director of The Kite Runner and Quantum of Solace, has been brought in to direct the zombie flick.
Filming was scheduled to start in 2009 but has been delayed since the original script was leaked on the internet in 2008. A new script is now being rewritten with the help of Matt Carnahan, screenwriter for The Kingdom and Lions for Lambs.
World War Z Audiobook
In 2007, the same year the film rights were secured, an audiobook version of the novel was published. It was narrated by Max Brooks himself but featured some notable actors lending their voices to some of the survivors. John Turtorro, who has starred in popular films such as The Big Lebowski and O Brother, Where Art Thou?, was the voice of Serosha Garcia Alvarez, whilst Mark Hamill (otherwise known as Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars movies) was the voice of Todd Wainio. The audiobook was the winner of the Audie Award that year.
It is not known whether these actors will play their respective characters in the film. At this stage it is not known who will be in the film at all. However, with the backing of Brad Pitt's production company, it is almost certain that some of Hollywood's A-listers will be drafted in to star in the film.
James Massoud - I'm a freelance writer based in London. I spent three years working in editorial before falling into freelance writing. I would say I'm ...
