Get ready to break out your copies of The Zombie Survival Guide, and be sure to stock up on bottled water and "lobos" (you know, those weapons with which one decapitates the living dead in hand-to-hand combat) -- Max Brooks's World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is being made into a film, with J. Michael Straczynski (who's also scribing Silver Surfer) adapting the book for the big screen. The film is being produced by Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment and Paramount is distributing.This is probably old news to some of you, but it's exciting news to me, since I just last night finished reading World War Z. I was absolutely immersed in this book and found it hard to put down. I've had deliciously scary zombie nightmares regularly while reading it, and have spent waayyyyyy more time than is probably healthy in discussions with my husband about the practical issues surrounding surviving a plague of the undead, comparing World War Z to Stephen King's plague book, The Stand, and pondering whether such a thing as an undead plague could actually scientifically happen (see, this kind of freakish obsessiveness is why I don't read or watch a lot of horror ...).
The book, for those who haven't read it, is told in the style of a series of interviews with survivors of worldwide plague which caused much of the world's population to die and then reanimate as drooling, stumbling, ravenous, jaw-snapping zombies who can infect the living with a single bite, thereby dooming them to zombie hell.
The "survivors" tell harrowing tales of fighting hand-to-hand-combat against zombie swarms, the perils of "crawlers" (zombies who are unable to walk but hide in tall grass waiting for victims), zombies coming out of the ocean to swarm beaches, and the measures the various world governments undertook to prevent the end of human life on our planet -- including choosing a small percentage of the population to save for regrowing the population in the post-plague world by leaving a larger percentage stranded as "zombie bait." It's a scary picture of how our world might react to any kind of worldwide plague, but this one, of course, is made worse by the idea of the dead reanimating to lunch on the living.
No word on who's going to direct (please God, not Uwe Boll), but If done right, this could make one hell of good (and scary) zombie flick. If you've read the book, who would you love to see bring this story to undead life? And who would you want to see cast in the major roles? I'm thinking, there's gotta be a role for Bruce Campbell in this one, right?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-20-2008 @ 6:23PM
Stacy said...
I think what's going to be the best part about this movie is since it deals with almost every major country's reaction to the outbreak that international top talent that this movie can tap into is unreal.
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2-20-2008 @ 6:30PM
scott said...
they should get michael stipe to play himself... if that really was him.
will the weinerdogs get their due?
man, i loved this book ~ here's hoping it doesn't get f'ed up.
winterbottom should direct...
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2-20-2008 @ 7:26PM
rex said...
Anybody who has any interest in the book or Zombies in general owes it to themselves to check out the World War Z website. They have clips from the Audio book, which was read by many well known actors (Rob Reiner, Mark Hamill, Alan Alda).
http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/worldwarz/
The great thing about the book is its subtlety. It lends itself to mutliple readings as you can then piece together different pieces that fit together and you notice how some of the characters and their stories are intertwined. I personally hope that the movie sticks to the post-war documentary style of the book. I am busy knocking on wood with all of my fingers crossed that the movie is good (and that the wiener dogs are in it).
also- for those of you in the Pacific NW feel free to join me on Orcas Island should World War Z break out (assuming you are not infected). The castle tower on Mt Constitution will be our last stand!
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2-20-2008 @ 9:56PM
Ray said...
Really, you could make at least 5 movies out of WWZ. There's just so much in there, that almost any attempt to make a movie out of it would lose a lot of the book.
And thirds on the weinerdog love. The dachs have to get their due!
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2-21-2008 @ 8:30AM
laura said...
I hated the book, thought it was flat and boring, and i love zombie anything!! I even tried to listen to the audiobook, just to get a different perspective, and i still hated it.
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2-21-2008 @ 10:52AM
Joshua said...
I agree i loved the book but i would love to see a mini series made on the subject of a zombie apocalypse, either WWZ or the graphic novels the walking dead...
as for directors...
-Darren Aronofsky
-David Fincher
-Baz Luhrmann
Main Roles...
-Reporter - Max Brooks himself... who better knows the subject.
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2-21-2008 @ 11:10AM
Christopher said...
I'd be pretty happy if they were just able to get most of the voice talent they got for the audio book. At least get Henry Rollins as his was one of the better readings and I think he captured that character pefectly. Mark Hamill was also great. Honestly, I don't see why they shouldn't at least start with the people they hired for the audio book.
And yeah, bring back the dog story. I was so miffed that was cut out of the audio book.
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2-21-2008 @ 11:13AM
khia213 said...
I love that book. I've given multiple copies to friends. I'm not sure who I want to direct, but for the section that takes place in the Hollywood compound, I vote for Ann Coulter and Bill Maher as the fleeing celebs. The descriptions really do sound like Brooks was referring to them. I'd pay double to see Coulter killed by a zombie!
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2-21-2008 @ 11:18AM
Froggie said...
I received a copy of The Zombie Survival Guide as a gift. Can I read that one first, or is it better to read WWZ first, or does it matter at all?
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2-21-2008 @ 12:04PM
Joshua said...
Read WWZ first it works better that way.... the survival guide takes itself really seriously and the joy of it gets overlooked if you arn't in the correct mindframe as to how a zombie plague could happen.
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2-21-2008 @ 12:12PM
Joseph J. Finn said...
They really do need to get George Romero and Studs Terkel to do cameos.
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2-22-2008 @ 6:13PM
CLS said...
I liked the book and what it added to the zombie lexicon- like 'quislings' (normal people whose psychological defense is to mimic zombies to the very end) and the zombies who 'live' underwater by walking along the ocean floor. Makes sense!
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3-06-2008 @ 6:03PM
kawkaw said...
I've posted two things on my scribd site that will interest you - a tongue in cheek article from Archaeology Magazine on the archaeological evidence of Solanum; and a detailed table of contents for WWZ! I got so frustrated trying to find stories in the book that I made one - and crossreferenced it with the audio book too! Here's the link:
http://www.scribd.com/people/view/67994
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3-22-2008 @ 9:45PM
JohnS said...
If you guys dig WWZ, there's a slight possibility that a few of these short stories might interest you:
http://www.talesofworldwarz.com/index.php
I haven't read 'em yet, but Jeffery DeRego has the 1st place winning story entry; and he's done some excellent short stories for escapepod.org (superhero stuff, but brutal and grit laden...). I mean to read all these storys when I have a bit more time to kill.
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