News: Is Pitt's World War Z Project Decomposing?

Pitt on set...looking skeptical himself?

A few months ago I reported that the Brad Pitt-produced film version of Max Brook's awesome novel had its release date pushed back about six months to the summer of 2013. But news out this week suggests that the project has been infected with a variety of production problems. These problems include reported directorial impotence, excessive spending, re-shoots, rewrites, and production goof-ups.

Obviously the biggest problems are those that affect the final product, such as the reported rewrite and re-shoot of the film's ending, which doesn't fill me with confidence about the rest of the storyline. Apparently, the ending was rewritten to seem more feasible. Now, to be fair, most movies now days could use a little rewriting, so at least Pitt's crew is making an attempt to right wrongs. But again, this does not make me a confident movie-goer.

I was, however, skeptical from the start. Brooks's novel is genius, but it would really work best as a television show, with each person's interview lasting for a single episode. From what I've been able to piece together about the film version, it seems to be a lot like Dawn of the Dead (2004). It's borrowing the name of something well-liked and powerful in order to gain interest, but it otherwise very different from its "original". Still, just like the newest Dawn of the Dead, that's no reason this movie can't be good in its own right, but color me cautious until opening night.

News: Zombies Take Over Sons of Guns

I watch many Discovery Channel shows, but I've never seen Sons of Guns, their show about Red Jacket Firearms building and crafting original and new guns. This month, however, they have my attention. Sons of Guns is teaming up with Max Brooks for their newest build: The Ultimate Zombie Gun. Now, to be honest, I have no idea what that will entail. A gun that's really good at head shots? A gun that is silenced? A gun that carries a high number of rounds? A little bit of all of that? Whatever. It's about zombies, so I'm game.

The show airs on Discovery Channel at 9pm eastern/8pm central on Wednesday evenings, but the zombie episode will hit airwaves on April 18th. Set your DVR!

News: World War Z Makes Us Play the Waiting Game

World War Z, the long-awaited film version of the totally awesome Max Brooks novel, was slated to be the greatest Christmas present in history this year. I was expecting to be one of those obnoxious people at the movie theater on Christmas day. I worked in movie theaters for eight years, and I promised myself I'd never be one of those people, but this movie promises to be the mother of all modern zombification and certainly worthy of a little promise-breaking.

But news out recently suggests that we're going to have to hold our horses for a while longer...too much longer in my opinion. The new release date announced is June of 2013. One website reported June 21st while another website reported June 13th as the new release date. Regardless of which is correct, this pushes the flick back 6 more months and does not make me happy whatsoever. When I look at it objectively, I still kind of think the move was poorly conceived. Let's be honest, the biggest zombie market right now is Walking Dead fans. If you want to appeal to those people, advertising and then releasing during the third season would be wise. Still, maybe zombies aren't really a "holiday" thing, and since Paramount has done little in the way of advertising this film, bumping it back will give them more time to promote.

I'm a little nervous about this flick in general. It seems like an awkward format for the novel; I always thought it would make a better television show than a movie. For those who have not read the book (aka: fools), the story is written as a series of interviews. There is no central conflict (aside from the apocalypse), and there really isn't one central character. Sure, the "interviewer" is there as a unifying thread, but he really isn't a voice in the narrative...at least not in the book.

In the movie, however, Brad Pitt plays a character named Gerry Lane. I'm pretty sure that name doesn't even exist in the book. IMDB describes the plot of the film in the following way:  "A U.N. employee is racing against time and fate, as he travels the world trying to stop the outbreak of a deadly Zombie pandemic." Yeah...that's not the book...at all. Still, I'm down for anything with high production value and a zombie stamp of approval. So I guess we'll just have to wait and see...but for even longer than I previously thought.

News: World War Z Tattoo Contest

World War Z is having a tattoo competition on Facebook and I'm entered! The winner of the contest will have their tattoo made into a temporary tattoo and handed out at the San Diego Comic Con. Would that be awesome or what? All the runners up get signed copies of World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks. That would be pretty awesome as well.

Wanna vote for your favorite zombie girl? Click on the link here and vote. You can vote once per day!