"World War Z" fans outraged over movie adaptation's drastic changes
By James Brady RyanAugust 15th, 2011, 8:00 amComments (10)
Paramount this week released a one-sentence synopsis for the Brad Pitt-starring film adaptation of Max Brooks' zombie novel World War Z, the "oral history of the zombie war." If you thought it sounded perhaps too ambitious to try to turn a collection of individual accounts into a big-budget feature film, you think a lot like Paramount; here's what their synopsis said:
The story revolves around United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Pitt), who traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity itself.
Not surprisingly, the many World War Z fans on the internet shat a collective brick over what they perceived as a desecration of the beloved source material. The general reaction seems to be this: what is the point of optioning a particularly distinctive, quite popular zombie book just to turn it into what sounds like a generic zombie film?
Indeed, if Paramount's abstract captures the whole picture of the picture — and I would caution people to remember that this single sentence might not be able to capture the whole scope — it does sound a bit ho-hum. Not that it couldn't be a good, if predictable, zombie flick. It just wouldn't really capture what made World War Z the book so enticing to its following. But in truth? World War Z just shouldn't be a movie. There is simply too much: too many characters, too many locations, too many tiny pieces that combine to make the big picture so compelling. The movie was a terrible idea from the start; this is simply the moment when the naive hope that it could work starts to fade.
Commentarium (10 Comments)
I have to agree, I always saw it as more of a series or a multi-part special that would switch off on focus between the various interviewees from the book. I could see them having to consolidate a few characters for time, but if they just collapse it all down to just one character, it will definitely lose a lot in the process.
Definitely. Much like The Walking Dead -- the whole point of which was imagining a truly unending fight against zombies -- TV seems like a much more appropriate home for any sort of live action World War Z.
Isn't the major appeal of zombie movies that they are inexpensive to make? No sets, cheap make-up minimal special effects? That's why there have been so many of them.
I always thought the success of WWZ was because it wasn't a movie and therefore not a half-hearted, quickly-produced, cynical cash-grab piece of crap. Like almost every zombie flick ever made.
I dont' see what the complains. Wow! Story changes for the movie from the actual book?!?! Surprise! Surprise! I loved the book and have been anticipating this for a while. Those complaining don't see the potential for what they could and where they could go with the series. I mean, this is just one of several types of directions ideas they could go with. I mean, this, then a documentary style, then idk right now. What else you got?
Also, and I guess this fits into the documentary idea, but something along the lines of the 04 dawn of the dead remake opening credits, which is one of the best opening credtis sequences as of recent. Watchmen had nothing on that shit!
And again, let's just get used to it, story changes from the books is part of scripting, surprise everyone! I'm just waiting for them to do The Bible and cast Jesus as a homosexual. Which he prolly was anyways.
Or!!! Judging by the utter fucking awesomeness of the title picture used in the article, perhaps they will be able to make something akin to George A.Romeros Day Of The Dead script/story. While I do like the story/movie we got, his original idea was WWWAAAYYY different. So, since world war z bears similarities to that, I would like to see something along those lines happen. That picture in large part sums up the original idea.
Checked out the set in Glasgow this morning. They've turned the city into Philadelphia. Goes to show that even Hollywood has to cut corners these days.
I just want to see the Battle of Yonkers. If it's half as awesome as that picture then this movie will be the greatest ever.
I can honestly say, they could have kept the idea being the same as the book. While i will probably check it out, from the way the summary sounds, they have drastically changed not the just story but the focus of the book. one is like the old world war capture the stories before the survivors are gone. The movie from what the summary states is going for lets look at the present and just film one mans attempt to stop the plague. So while it may end up being a good movie, i don't think it should be called World War Z, to me that seems just like using a name brand on a knock off product. so yeah i am saddened by the announcement but i do hope they can make a good movie.
Now you say something