re: The Walking Dead

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I cant wait to see how they are going to handle the movie.

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Film adaptation
After a bidding war with Leonardo DiCaprio's production company Appian Way, Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment secured the screen rights to the novel in 2007.[28] The screenplay was written by Babylon 5 and Rising Stars creator 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".[29] Marc Forster signed on to direct, and described the film as reminiscent of 1970s conspiracy thrillers like All the President's Men.[30] Straczynski, however, identified 2002 spy film The Bourne Identity as an appropriate comparison, and noted that the film will have a large international scope which maintains the political emphasis.[31]

When asked about his involvement with the film, Brooks stated that he had "zero control", but favored a role for Brad Pitt,[1] and expressed approval for Straczynski as screenwriter.[32][33] In an interview with Fangoria, 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."[34] Despite his lack of artistic control, Brooks did say that the movie "has to be epic ... and if it isn't the Lord of the Rings of zombie movies, I don't want to see it get made."[35]

An early script was leaked onto the internet in 2008. Ain't It Cool News reviewed the script on March 27, 2008, and said "This isn’t just a good adaptation of a difficult book ... it’s 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".[36] The review also noted the film appears stylistically similar to Children of Men.[36] According to Ain't It Cool News, the film follows 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." One of the first interviews is with Dr. Tsai, the first to encounter the zombies.[36]

Straczynski had hoped that the film would begin production by the start of 2009.[31] Forster, however, told IGN on March 6, 2009 that the script was still in development and he was not sure if World War Z would be his next film.[37] On March 20, 2009, rumors surfaced that production offices were set up and the film was in early pre-production.[38] In June 2009, Marc Forster told an interviewer that the film would be delayed, stating that the film's script still needs a lot of development and is "still far from realization".[39]

In July 2009, Brooks revealed to Fangoria that the script is currently being re-written by Matthew Michael Carnahan. Brooks believes this "shows [the producer's] confidence in this project" because of the amount of money that was being invested in it.[40] Paramount Pictures announced at the 2010 Comic-Con that Forster is set as director, and Brad Pitt has been confirmed to play the lead role.[41]

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