World War Z - Film Adaptation

Film Adaptation

In June 2006, the movie rights for World War Z were secured by Paramount Studios for Brad Pitt's production company, Plan B Entertainment to produce. The screenplay was written by J. Michael Straczynski, with Marc Forster directing, and Pitt starring as the main character, United Nations employee Gerry Lane. Despite being the draft that got the film green-lit, Straczynski's script was tossed aside, so that production, which was to begin at the start of 2009, was delayed while the script was completely re-written by Matthew Michael Carnahan to set the movie in the present, leaving behind much of the premise of the book to make it more of an action film. In April, 2010, Paramount Studios renewed its option on the movie's rights. Filming finally commenced mid-2011. Initial filming occurred in Malta before moving on to Glasgow (which was used to represent Philadelphia, as the production team avoided the American city because of uncertainty over whether they would be given tax credits for filmmakers). Some scenes were shot in Cornwall, before production moved to Budapest in October. The morning before filming commenced, a Hungarian counter-terrorism unit raid seized the firearms that had been brought in for use as props, as their import had not been cleared, and, contrary to documentation, the weapons were fully functional.

World War Z was initially slated for release by Paramount Pictures on December 21, 2012. In March 2012, the film's release was pushed back to June 21, 2013, with Paramount electing to release Jack Reacher on the December 2012 date.