World War Z has been surrounded by drama and controversy since the announcement that the novel was being turned into a feature film, with Brad Pitt's production company Plan B securing the rights to the film only after winning a bidding war with Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way company.
J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5, Changeling) was the first screenwriter on the project and developed the first draft of the script but was then replaced by Matt Carnahan (The Kingdom, State of Play); however reports suggested that the final act of the film had to be re-written and Damien Lindelof (Lost) was brought in to assist with the task of writing a new ending, which ultimately led to the film being pushed back from the initially planned December 2012 release date to Summer 2013 to allow for re-shoots. The man at the helm of this epic zombie tale is Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace) and if reports are to be believed it seems the burden of this $180 million project may have taken its toll on the relationship between Forster and Pitt (who not only stars but is the producer of the film), which led to a rocky production set.
Rumours and speculation aside World War Z has the potential to be a mammoth film for 2013. With zombie dramas such as The Walking Dead captivating audiences on the small screen, it will be great to see what World War Z has in store and with a superb cast in Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos (The Killing), David Morse (The Green Mile) and James Badge Dale (The Departed), it has all the ingredients to be a monster hit.
