World War Z

[JBC]

This book came out last week and has already been snatched up by Paramount to be made into a movie.

I got it earlier today and am about 100 pages into it. It's really good so far. It's basically the people's perspective 20 or 30 years after the outbreak of a worldwide zombie apocalypse. It's their retelling of the events and an account of what the world might be like following such a catastrophic incident.

Because of how diverse the stories are it doesn't feel stiff at all. Every few paragraphs or pages will begin a new, totally different person's account so the setting is constantly changing and never grows stale. Each period of the 'war' is divided up into it's own section and presented in chronological order so you never really get lost and it's very interesting to see how the world's goverments react to the different situations in thier individual countries.

I was getting tired of zombie stories too, but this is a really fresh take. Like i said, i'm only a little bit into the book but i highly recommend checking it out if you want an intelligent elaboration on the idea.

It's really interesting to read the retellings and notice the different personalities talking to thier interviewer - especially considering that not all of them are pessimistic and cynical, as is often the case with zombie movie characters.

[1up]

holy revival batman

Just wanted to pop in with an update from Comic-Con. It has been known for a while that Brad Pitts studio, Plan B, secured the rights to "World War Z" back in 2007. It has now been confirmed that Brad Pitt will play the lead role in the movie.

The author mentioned that Marc Forster ("Quantum of Solace") will instruct the movie and that its moving along nicely at Paramount Pictures. It was also mentioned that Paramount had secured the rights to the book "The Zombie Survival Guide" as well as the comic book "The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks".

The story follows a researcher for the FN, who interviews survivors all over the world, 10 years after 'The Great Panic', to get an impression of the war that tore apart every country on the map.

The original script was done by J. Michael Straczynski, but was later rewritten by Matthew Michael Carnahan.

Paramount expects to have the movie done for a summer 2012 release.

Concept art: (The Battle of Yonkers - I just got to this part in the book )



Im VERY excited
source

[Octopod]

There is no lead role in the book.

[1up]

There is no lead role in the book.

theres the reporter conducting the interviews? I havent finished the book yet but im under the impression that its the same guy interviewing people? Theres parts in between without the reporter though, like the incident in the american suburb with the family being attacked while they try to escape and the merc protecting the rich and famous while other survivors storm their fort.

[Never_Scurred]

I downloaded the audiobook a couple weeks ago but haven't gave it a listen yet.

[Ed Oscuro]

Well, it's been some years since I read the book (parts meh and cool) and the "lead role" of the guy collecting interviews is given in a pretty dry "Introduction" that you'd expect to see at the beginning of an official report or a college press publication. Disclaimers and so on.

Brad Pitt or no I'm certain I'm going to pass this up. I got all the socio-political assertions from the author the first time around; a lot of them are well-reasoned and many are feasible, but I didn't like the morality play vibe and I really don't want to send my mind in overdrive again over everything crazy Brooks says to be true. Plus, I don't like passive zombie media.

You know, this might have been fresher had they gotten off their asses and made the movie in 2006, Brad Pitt or no. The criticisms of the military handling of conflicts might have resonated better or at least been fresher 3 or 4 years after the beginning of the Iraq War. Though it would have maybe come into direct competition with the sequels of 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead, now it's got to compete with (among other things) Zombieland, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, remakes of Romero films, not one but two Left 4 Dead titles, and The Forest of Hands and Teeth, which according to writesnobs is the final word in zombies. I even watched a kid at college read his short story, with no shortage of smirking, about how a zombie finds self-fulfillment and a legacy (?) in art after the apocalypse.

Also, this.

Apparently zombie things were big during the last big, big decline of the economy (during the 1930s) but that was when movies were still a novelty (people ATE THEM RIGHT UP, ha ha) and before we had tons of them. So.

[1up]

yea I can see what youre saying. some say that zombies are the new WW2. But I dont care, I cant get enough of this stuff. Ive been a fan of Z's since as long as I can remember and this zombie overdose is a blessing. nothing lasts forever though, so Im happy with the awesome stuff thats come out so far, that I can rely on when this zombie craze blows over eventually

[xris]

Highschool of the Dead

[JoshF]

If you like zombies check out Biomega by Tsutomu Nihei. The artwork is insane. Ashley Wood had a comic called Robots vs. Zombies that was okay but I only got one issue of that.

[Octopod]

I just now noticed the giant distance between the dates of the first and second post.

[1up]

filming for the World War Z movie starts this August. budget is $130mill.

cast includes Brad Pitt, Anthony Mackie, Mireille Enos James Badge Dale

[jochen]

130 mill for a Zombie-movie - I fear we will see CGI-Zombies like in
"I am legend" with Will Smith .

130 mill means the film must have a great audience - so less blood and gore.

Give the money to George Romero and Tom Savini and maybe we will see a movie
from them half as good as Night, Dawn or Day of the Dead.

[Siren2011]

If you like zombies check out Biomega by Tsutomu Nihei. The artwork is insane. Ashley Wood had a comic called Robots vs. Zombies that was okay but I only got one issue of that.

I loved the first volume of Biomega! I'm pretty sure that you can read the other volume (or volumes? I haven't been keeping up.) online, but I find it less enjoyable than reading it in paper form for some reason. I only read that Guwange manga online because there was no other way of getting ahold of it.

I skimmed through Robots vs. Zombies and liked it, but not as much as his work on Automatic Kafka and the Tank Girl revision.

That reminds me, I still need to check out Popbot. I've heard nothing but good things. Kafka would be perfect if it wasn't for the intentionally pretentious plot (the author himself has hinted in the first issue that he doesn't care if it makes sense and that he's making shit up as he goes along, leaving many holes in the story without giving any shit to what the reader might think. It's a shame, really.)