It seems like a no brainer, pun intended. Brad Pitt producing and starring in a Marc Forster directed adaptation of a popular book about a global zombie apocalypse featuring huge, innovative action scenes uncommon in your typical zombie film. World War Z has been kicking around Hollywood since before author Max Brooks (son of Mel Brooks) even published his book and, as it stands now, Paramount figures it will cost about $125 million to truly make the Matthew Carnahan script the right way. According to Vulture, though, Paramount is ready to pull the plug on the film entirely unless they can find a co-financier and that’s even with Forster agreeing to make the film PG-13. You read that right. A PG-13 zombie war movie. More after the break. Read More »
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It’s nothing like the merry-go-round of screenwriters but it does sometimes seem that pretty much all studio pictures go through a few directors on their way to the screen. Very often a director will board a project, wrestle with it for months, if not years, then depart. Other times, a whole list of directors will have passed pretty much as soon as they close the script and a project can find some time to find somebody willing to commit.
The last we told you, Marc Forster was going to direct zombie epic World War Z from a script by Matthew Carnahan. Some rumours bubbled up in the summer that he was off the project, but died down pretty quickly, and now word is definitely that he’s very much still in the driving seat. On the other hand, our last report on Joe Wright told you that he would be directing Keira Knightley in a new version of My Fair Lady and that, it has now become clear, isn’t the case at all.
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What’s going on with the big screen adaptation of Max Brooks‘ book World War Z? J. Michael Straczynski wrote a screenplay, which seems like over a year ago, and Quantum of Solace helmer Marc Forster has been attached to direct. But aside from comments from Stazzynski or Foster here or there, we really haven’t gotten an update on the project in a long while.
Brooks, son of comedy legend Mel Brooks, revealed that Paramount Pictures has hired a new writer for the project, while making an appearance on Fangoria Radio. Who is the new writer? Matthew Michael Carnahan, brother of director Joe Carnahan, and writer of The Kingdom, Lions For Lambs, and State of Play. Brooks said that Carnahan is “one of Hollywood’s hot A-list writers, so if they went after him and paid him a mountain of gold, it definitely shows their confidence in this project.” Still no word an an updated production timeline.
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Some time back in May, IESB reported a rumour that Bradley Cooper was lining up the role of Lt. Templeton “Faceman” Peck in Joe Carnahan‘s A-Team adaptation. Of course, Cooper then later gave out the standard non-denial denials all over the place but this morning, Variety are confirming that he’s in negotiations. Also navigating the choppy waters of studio contract formulation is Liam Neeson, who looks set to step up as Col. John “Hannibal” Smith. My, what catchy handles these A-Team boys have.
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