Thought the zombie craze was dead? Think again. In the first bit of real news to come out of this year’s Comic-Con so far, World War Z author Max Brooks has confirmed with MTV’s Rick Marshall that Brad Pitt is now officially set to star in the adaptation of his novel about a zombie apocalypse. The film is being produced by Pitt’s production company, Plan B Entertainment, with Quantum of Solace helmer Marc Forster attached to direct for a summer 2012 release.
The script, which was originally written by J. Michael Straczynski (Changeling) and later rewritten by Matthew Michael Carnahan (The Kingdom), traces a worldwide zombie outbreak through the first-hand accounts of survivors. That doesn’t sound like anything groundbreaking or even original, but the attachment of a bona fide A-lister is sure to separate this one from the pack. I can’t recall a zombie movie ever being anchored by a star even remotely close to Brad Pitt’s stature.
In addition to World War Z, two more of Brooks’s books have been optioned by Paramount. The Zombie Survival Guide offers instructions for surviving a zombie attack, and Recorded Attacks covers some of the major battles between the living and the living dead. When all is said and done, Brooks might be the greatest lifeblood for zombies since Mr. Romero himself.
The concept art I’ve included above was created for the film and released online back in January 2009. It was created by artist Daniel LuVisi who titled it “The Battle Of Yonkers” and said, “This is the image I did, to get on the film World War Z with Marc Forster… Can’t say what’s going on or what the outcome is right now, but it’s not in the negative zone.”
So the art isn’t something having anything specifically to do with the film, just sort of cool to look at. You can get a hi-res version right here.
