World War Z (film)

Marc Forster was hired to direct the film in 2008.

After a bidding war with Leonardo DiCaprio's production company Appian Way Productions, Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment secured the screen rights to Max Brooks' novel in 2007.[14] The first draft of the screenplay was written by J. Michael Straczynski, who identified the challenge in adapting the work as "creating a main character out of a book that reads as a UN report on the zombie wars."[15] Marc Forster signed on to direct, and described the film as reminiscent of 1970s conspiracy thrillers like All the President's Men (1974).[16] Straczynski identified the 2002 spy film The Bourne Identity as an appropriate comparison, and noted that the film would have a large international scope that maintained the political emphasis.[17] When asked about his involvement with the film, Brooks stated he had "zero control", but favored a role for Pitt,[18] and expressed approval for Straczynski as screenwriter.[19][20] Brooks said: "I can't give it away, but Straczynski found a way to tie it all together. The last draft I read was amazing."[21]

An early script was leaked onto the internet in March 2008, leading to a review by Ain't It Cool News that called it "[not] just a good adaptation of a difficult book [but] a genre-defining piece of work that could well see us all arguing about whether or not a zombie movie qualifies as 'Best Picture' material".[22] The script was well-enough respected to find a place on the 2007 Black List of "most liked" screenplays not yet produced.[23] The Ain't It Cool News review also noted the film appears stylistically similar to Children of Men (2006), following Gerry Lane as he travels the post-war world and interviews survivors of the zombie war who are "starting to wonder if survival is a victory of any kind."[22]

In December 2008, Straczynski said he hoped the film would begin production by the start of 2009,[17] but, in March 2009, Forster said the script was still in development and he was not sure if World War Z would be his next film.[24] Later in March, rumors surfaced that production offices were set up and the film was in early pre-production.[25] Then, in June, Forster told an interviewer that the film would be delayed, stating that its script still needed a lot of development and was "still far from realization".[26]

Brooks revealed that the script was being re-written by Matthew Michael Carnahan in July 2009. He said he believed this "show[ed] [the producer's] confidence in this project" because of the amount of money that was being invested in it.[27] Paramount Pictures and UTV Motion Pictures announced at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con that Forster was set as director, and Pitt was confirmed to be playing the lead role.[28] In March 2011, it was reported on Vulture that Paramount was searching for a co-financier, and would likely pull the plug on the adaptation without one.[29] The article also stated that "an eleventh-hour effort is being made to court frequent Paramount co-financier David Ellison." A week later, it was reported that "hot and heavy talks are going on with David Ellison's Skydance Productions and as many as two other financiers."[30]

Pre-production began in April 2011, with Robert Richardson being announced as the cinematographer and Nigel Phelps as production designer.[31] In the same month, it was reported that filming locations would include Pinewood Studios and London, England.[32] Also in April, Mireille Enos was cast as Gerry Lane's wife and mother of their two children.[33]

In June, James Badge Dale entered negotiations to join the film as an American soldier who tries to alert the authorities to the zombie threat.[34] Matthew Fox and Ed Harris entered talks, and Julia Levy-Boeken was set to join the film.[35] It was reported that filming would begin in Malta the next month and would encompass Valletta and the Three Cities.[36] A few days later, it was reported that filming would also take place in Glasgow, Scotland, in August,[37] the city doubling for Philadelphia, "with false shop fronts being constructed and American cars on the roads."[38] Glasgow was reportedly chosen after "many months looking for the perfect city centre location to play an important part in the film."[37] Philadelphia was passed on due to "uncertainties about state tax credits for filmmakers."[39] Filming was originally planned to take place in Royal Tunbridge Wells, England before moving to Glasgow.[40]

Later in June, visual effects house Cinesite announced that it would work on "a significant amount of shots".[41] At the end of the month, it was reported that, despite previous reports, neither Fox nor Harris would be starring in the film; Fox had a scheduling conflict stemming from his prior commitment to star in Alex Cross with Tyler Perry at Summit Entertainment,[42] though he was later spotted filming scenes for World War Z in Falmouth, Cornwall.[43]

Filming in George Square, Glasgow, August 2011

With a reported budget of over $125 million,[29] World War Z began principal photography in July 2011 in Malta, with the first images of production being released a few days later.[44] Filming was scheduled to move to Glasgow in August, with the production company looking to recruit 2,000 local extras for the shoot.[45] At least 3,000 people showed up at a casting call in Glasgow on July 9, hoping for the opportunity to appear in a scene set in a financial district in Philadelphia.[46] Scenes were also shot in Falmouth, Cornwall.[47] Also in July, actor Elyes Gabel was cast as a character named Fassbach.[48] Despite opposition from residents, some scenes were shot on the Heygate Estate in South London.[49]

In August, Bryan Cranston entered negotiations to join the film in a "small but flashy" role, but he ultimately had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. Also in August, filming was set to take place along a road on the perimeter of the Grangemouth Refinery in Grangemouth, Scotland, the location chosen for the length of the road, which was crucial to the shot.[50] A few days later, Paramount announced the film would be released on December 21, 2012.[51] Later in the same month, filming began in Glasgow. The location manager for the film said Glasgow had been chosen because of its architecture, wide roads, and grid layout.[52] Scenes were also filmed aboard the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship RFA Argus, before the Glasgow shoot. The ship was turned into the "USS Madison", which involved stenciling a new pennant number on the funnel and adding some "Americanism" to the superstructure. Steven McMenemy, the Argus's navigator said: "The ship sailed and we were joined by four small catamarans which were being used as markers for the cameras, so that warships could be added in with CGI later."[53] In October, David Morse was cast as a "prisoner living in an abandoned jail."[54]

The filmmakers initially intended to film a climactic battle scene set in Russia, and the crew moved to Budapest to film it there.[55] Filming in Budapest commenced on the evening of October 10.[56] That morning, the Hungarian Counter Terrorism Centre raided the warehouse where guns had been delivered for use as filming props.[56] The 85 assault rifles, sniper rifles, and handguns had been flown into Budapest overnight on a private aircraft, but the film's producers had failed to clear the delivery with Hungarian authorities, and, while the import documentation indicated the weapons had been disabled, all were found to be fully functional.[56][57] On February 10, 2012, the charges were dropped after investigators were unable to identify exactly which "organization or person" had "ownership rights"; therefore they could not "establish which party was criminally liable".[58]

Principal photography wrapped on November 4, 2011.

In June 2012, screenwriter Damon Lindelof was hired to rewrite the film's third act, with reshoots scheduled to begin that September or October.[59] He was brought in as a new set of eyes not burdened by all the history of the script and said: "[Brad Pitt] took me through how excited he was when he read the book, what was exciting for him, the geopolitical aspect of it. But when we started working on the script, a lot of that stuff had to fall away for the story to come together."[60] Lindelof explained that there were inefficiencies in the script in relation to the shooting that started before the script was finalized, making the ending "abrupt and incoherent", and that the film was missing a large chunk of footage. He presented two options to executives, who ultimately chose to shoot 30 to 40 minutes of additional footage to change the ending. However, Lindelof did not have time to script the new ending, so in July Paramount hired his Lost partner Drew Goddard to finish the work.[61] Goddard later told Creative Screenwriting: "To me the big lesson of World War Z was that Paramount, Plan B and Brad Pitt simply said, 'Let's take the time to make this movie the best version of the movie before we put it on the screen for audience.' [sic] That doesn't happen a lot. A lot of times they just throw the movie out there and say, 'We'll make all our money opening weekend and then the movie will go away.' I came away from it thinking, 'Why don't we do this on more movies?'"[62]

The re-shoots, coupled with other overages, caused the film's budget to balloon to around $190 million, which shocked Paramount president Marc Evans.[8][9][63] Several of the scenes shot in Budapest, including a large-scale battle with the zombies in Moscow's Red Square,[64] were dropped from the final cut in order to water down the film's political undertones and steer it towards a more generally friendly summer blockbuster.[65] The climactic battle scene in Russia, for which there was 12 minutes of footage, reportedly had Pitt's character fighting through zombies more like "a warrior hero" than "the sympathetic family man" of the earlier acts. The second-unit director, Simon Crane, said: "It wasn't character-driven anymore... [The filmmakers] really needed to think about what they wanted to do with the third act."[55] Additional scenes were also filmed at the Pfizer building at Discovery Park in Sandwich, Kent, for scenes where Gerry tries to find a cure for the zombie pandemic.[66]

In March 2013, it was reported that Paramount changed a scene in the film, in which the characters speculate that the zombie outbreak originated in mainland China, in hopes of landing a distribution deal in the country.[67] An executive familiar with upcoming releases in China told TheWrap in June that a cut of the film was rejected by Chinese censors. A Paramount executive contended that he was "unaware of any rejection", explaining: "We have submitted one version and have yet to receive a response."[68]

The film grossed $202.4 million in North America and $337.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $540 million.[11] Variety called it a "bona-fide box office hit",[79] although Deadline Hollywood later said it "barely broke even".[10]

In North America, the film earned $25.2 million on its opening day,[80] including $3.6 million from Thursday night and midnight shows.[81] It went on to earn $66.4 million its opening weekend, finishing second to Monsters University at the box office.[82] This was, at the time, the second-largest opening weekend for a film that did not debut in first place (behind The Day After Tomorrow (2004) with $85.8 million),[83] the largest opening weekend for a film starring Brad Pitt,[82] and the sixth-largest opening among films released in June.[84]

In other territories, the film earned $5.7 million on its opening day (Thursday, June 20, 2013),[81] and $45.8 million its opening weekend, ranking third.[82]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 66% of 288 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "It's uneven and diverges from the source book, but World War Z still brings smart, fast-moving thrills and a solid performance from Brad Pitt to the zombie genre. "[85] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 63 out of 100, based on 46 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[86]

Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a 3.5 out of 4, saying: "It's entertaining as hell" and provides "nearly non-stop action". Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film a 3 out of 4, saying that "the suspense is killer".[87] Henry Barnes of The Guardian considered the film an "attempt at large-scale seriousness" in the zombie genre that resulted in a "punchy, if conventional action thriller."[88] Writing for Variety, Scott Foundas found the film a "surprisingly smart, gripping and imaginative addition to the zombie-movie canon", which shows "few visible signs of the massive rewrites, reshoots and other post-production patchwork."[89] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter opined that "Brad Pitt delivers a capable performance in an immersive apocalyptic spectacle about a global zombie uprising."[90] A. O. Scott of The New York Times said, "[It] does not try to extend the boundaries of commercial entertainment but does what it can to find interesting ways to pass the time within them."[91] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times remarked that "World War Z plays a bit like a series of separate films and the juncture where the new final act was grafted onto the proceedings is unmistakable, but unless you knew about the film's troubled past, you'd never guess it existed."[92]

In a negative review, Joe Neumaier of the New York Daily News said that World War Z "is no summer thriller. It's an anemic actioner that fosters excitement like dead limbs as it lumbers toward a conclusion."[93] Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph thought the film had been affected by its troubled development, observing that "the final product has an elaborate uselessness about it", and the film has "no heart to be found amid the guts."[94] Alonso Duralde of TheWrap said: "For all its effectiveness at portraying the horror of possible human extinction, the film's actual humans are so soulless that this could just as well be the movie version of the video game Plants vs. Zombies."[95]