Oh Thank God! ‘World War Z’ Could be Back on Track

It was recently reported via Slashfilm that A) the could be zombie movie World War Z could be out of money and hence out of luck and B) World War Z has been talked about by Paramount execs as a potential project.  Basically, ignore A…  Anyway, the story goes that the film, set to be directed by Marc Foster and starring Brad Pitt, has been set up to be made for some time but the logistics behind a massive, globe spanning story complete with epic zombie battles have proven a major hurdle.  To make matters worse the funding needed may only be recouped after release if the rating is lowered to the dreaded PG-13, which, as referenced in the Slashfilm articles, has already been cleared.

Regardless of studio drama (funding, cast and director changes, general Hollywood BS), this film should MUST be made!  The author of the original novel, Max Brooks, son of comedic genius and satire director extraordinaire, Mel Brooks, started his foray into zombie-lit with The Zombie Survival Guide.  Detailing every strategy one would need to know to survive a zombie apocalypse, the book became an instance success and required reading for ghoul fan boys everywhere.  Following the wave of good press, the younger Brooks penned World War Z as an oral history of a fictional zombie war that almost destroyed mankind.  Greed, stupidity, violence, panic and hubris all combine and put humans on the endangered species list over a few short years.  Visionary politicians, warriors and normal people tell their stories to a government worker tasked with creating a cohesive narrative of events.  Ranging from horrifying to comedic to heartbreaking, World War Z shows us exactly how powerful the zombie allegory could be, when presented in the right light.

For me, the most impressive parts of the book deal with how our military equipment and tactics are in no way useful against the living dead.  The Battle of Yonkers, the US government’s first attempt to take back zombie infested land, will be an amazing spectacle on the big screen.  Bombs exploding, machine guns firing and waves and waves of endless ghouls, undeterred and unimpressed by the force facing them.  Modern tactics and equipment are designed to maim and scare the enemy into submission, two things zombies care nothing about and a topic that Brooks emphasizes by describing battles across the world.  Every aspect of warfare has to be reimagined and retooled, armored vehicles and explosives become useless and the most deadly weapon is a semiautomatic carbine.  Warfare takes on a new mentality, cold efficient extermination.

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