World War Z book vs. movie (and World War Z poster above and WWZ trailer below) Written by Max Brooks (son of Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft), the World War Z book, a mix of apocalyptic horror and sociopolitical satire, shows what happens to Planet Earth following a zombie pandemic, possibly to have begun in China. Set in various parts of the world, World War Z tracks humans’ attempts to prevent (or at least control) imminent Zombageddon. However, in the movie — it’s a megabudget Hollywood production, after all — instead of various stories set around the globe, we have one (male) all-American hero (in the person of a long-haired Brad Pitt) who once again comes to the rescue of the Whole Wide World. Needless…



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WORLD WAR Z Poster and Trailer

World War Z reviews Several World War Z reviews are in, and for the most part they have been hardly enthusiastic. Directed by Marc Forster and starring Brad Pitt (who also wears a producer’s hat in the film), World War Z has been a troubled production from the get-go: there were financing woes, the budget reportedly escalated from $125 million to $200 million, there were numerous rewrites and quite a bit of reshooting, in addition to a red-alert delay in the film’s release date. Anyhow, here are a few English-language World War Z review snippets. Of note, perhaps it’s only a coincidence, but the American publications have tended to be considerably more welcoming to World War Z than the British / Irish ones: "What a…



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WORLD WAR Z Reviews: Hardly Enthusiastic

World War Z rejected by China censors? What will Paramount cut next? (Photo: Brad Pitt as a World War Z zombie-fighter) World War Z, the Brad Pitt movie about the (latest) upcoming zombie apocalypse, has received several early positive reviews in the United States, but has been less well liked — i.e., rejected — by the Chinese censorship board according to TheWrap, citing an unnamed source. If true, that’s bad news for the Marc Forster-directed Paramount release that not only cost a reported $200 million — not including marketing and distribution expenses — but also one that had already suffered a bit of self-imposed censorship for fear of hurting the delicate sensibilities of Chinese censors. Now, first of all, a clarification: TheWrap cites "an executive…



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WORLD WAR Z 2013: China Censorship Woes?

World War Z trailer HD: Brad Pitt vs. Zombies - but where’s Iron Man? World War Z, the troubled production directed by Marc Forster and starring Brad Pitt fooling around with a bunch of zombies, has a new trailer. Well, maybe not so new. The World War Z trailer HD below has been out for a few days. (Photo: Brad Pitt World War Z.) Lessons learned from the World War Z trailer Anyhow … what do we learn from watching the not-so-new World War Z trailer? First of all, that happy, well-to-do American families have no reason to believe they’re entitled to either happiness or material well-being, as there’s always some alien force out to destroy their emotional and financial bliss. If it’s not stock…



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WORLD WAR Z Trailer HD: Where’s Iron Man?

Killing Them Softly: Brad Pitt has his worst opening weekend ever Brad Pitt stars in Andrew Dominik’s Killing Them Softly, an R-rated crime comedy-drama The Weinstein Company acquired for domestic distribution at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Prior to Cannes, where it generally received less than ecstatic reviews and failed to win a single Official Competition award, Killing Them Softly was considered a potential awards-season contender — after all, Pitt and Dominik’s previous collaboration, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, had been a critical favorite in late 2007. (Photo: Killing Them Softly Brad Pitt.) Released at 2,424 North American locations on one of the year’s weakest box-office weekends, Killing Them Softly debuted with an anemic $2.51 million on Friday, and is…



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KILLING THEM SOFTLY: Brad Pitt Worst Box-Office Debut Ever

Brad Pitt Killing Them Softly box office: Weak Friday Brad Pitt, big guns and all, has failed to rescue Andrew Dominik’s The Weinstein Company-distributed Killing Them Softly at the North American box office. The R-rated crime comedy-drama debuted with a dismal $2.51 million at 2,424 locations on Friday, Nov. 30, according to studio estimates found at Box Office Mojo. (Photo: Brad Pitt Killing Them Softly.) Reviews for the New Orleans-set movie based on George V. Higgins’ novel have been mostly positive — or at least lukewarm — but hardly ecstatic: Killing Them Softly has a 68% approval rating and a 6.7/10 average among Rotten Tomatoes‘ top critics. But The Weinstein Company clearly didn’t have high hopes for their acquisition, dumping it on the weekend after…



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Brad Pitt KILLING THEM SOFTLY Bombs

World War Z screenplay problems: Prometheus co-screenwriter Damon Lindelof has been tapped for rewrites on Paramount’s (reportedly) $125m-budgeted World War Z. Starring Brad Pitt (photo), and directed by Finding Neverland‘s Marc Forster, the sociopolitical horror thriller about a zombie outbreak — which some of its talent has compared to All the President’s Men and The Bourne Identity — was shot in Europe last year. Based on Max Brooks’ 2006 novel World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, World War Z was initially adapted by Thor / Changeling‘s J. Michael Straczynski, who was later replaced by Matthew Michael Carnahan. Carnahan’s previous screenwriting credits consist of three contemporary political dramas: Robert Redford’s Lions for Lambs, Kevin Macdonald’s State of Play, and Peter Berg’s The…



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WORLD WAR Z: Troubled Zombie Movie Taps PROMETHEUS Screenwriter

Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and Angelina Jolie’s notorious right leg ("Brangeleg" for short?) are seen backstage at the 2012 Academy Awards ceremony, which took place at the Hollywood and Highland Center in Hollywood on February 26. Pitt was a Best Actor nominee for Bennett Miller’s Moneyball. (Photo: Darren Decker / ©A.M.P.A.S.) Pitt, 48, and Jolie, 37 next June, have been in the headlines in the last day or so after it was announced that the couple, who have been living together for years and have six children, are officially engaged. Now, before you start OMG’ing: No wedding date has been set. Both actors had previously stated that they’d hold off getting married until the United States allowed for marriage equality (i.e.,…



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Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Marlene Dietrich Leg