Filed under: Movie News

'World War Z' is Gonna Be Like 'The Bourne Identity' but With Zombies

Sounds like it will be just as bad as I imagined

Upon hearing the news that Max Brooks' "World War Z" was going to be adapted into a feature film many rejoiced while I just didn't care. The book the film is based on is a monotonous case of repeat viewings as many people are attacked by zombies in a world infested by the undead and humans fight to survive in what is called the World War Z. The book is written from the perspective of an anonymous UN employee as he travels the world getting the stories of those that were involved and lived to tell about it.

Honestly, the book is interesting inside the first 20 pages or so, but it just begins to wear on you as it is the same story over and over again and now screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski has told MTV his plans for adapting the project and I can't imagine a more uninteresting approach, and to say he is going for a thriller in the vein of The Bourne Identity is just silly beyond words.

"The fictional concept of the book is that its written by someone with the UN, so let's tell that story," Straczynski told MTV News. "Let's show the book being written. We follow this guy all over the world as he goes on these interviews, and he has his own personal story as well. You're cutting between the past and the present, how he got to this point." Oh boy, so it's going to be like "Lost" but only with zombie stories.

He continued saying, "We talk about it as a thriller, the closest comparison being The Bourne Identity… Most zombie movies to this point have been small, focusing on a few people in a house. And this has got real scare. You're in India with hundreds of boats trying to get out of there with a tidal wave of zombies. The scale of what we're doing here is phenomenal.

"It has that international feel to it, and because it goes backward and forward in time, we can cherry-pick our favorite moments in the book," continued Straczynski. "Some of it is crazy in scale. It's huge. It's as political as the book was. And it ends with that book being completed."

Perhaps some of you see this as good news. Personally I think the whole idea is uninteresting and I have no interest in another zombie movie whatsoever. Perhaps I am wrong and this will end up being the greatest zombie movie of all-time. The proclamation that Marc Forster is directing and it is along the lines of The Bourne Identity will probably have Quantum of Solace haters and horror fans quaking in their boots.

For the complete interview click here.


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Post #1
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I'm starting to wonder wtf is up with all the zombie movies lately, seems theres 1-2 mainstream zombie films coming out each year, and then even more independant or strait to DVD ones on top of that, I just dont see how zombies r THAT good a movie premice.

- JD92
( December 3rd, 2008 | 2:26 pm )
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Post #2
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What are they talking about? World War Z was NOT a thriller book. Sure, it had some thrilling moments, but most of it was just about people surviving, or government adaptation to this worldwide disaster. Wtf, Straczynski?

- Em
( December 4th, 2008 | 12:10 am )
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Post #3
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1st poster obviously hasn't read the book.

Writer obviously hasn't read the book. Or he missed the point entirely. "monotonous case of repeat viewings". Um, okay. If you couldn't see the progression of the various stories, or feel the "reality" of the book, I feel sorry for you.

I've read plenty of non-fiction "oral histories", particularly the one from which Brooks took inspiration. Don't bother reading those either, as they would be lost on you.

From Brad: Thank you for your insults and assumptions, they speak well to your character and let me know I should never take your opinion seriously.

- Matta G
( January 5th, 2009 | 6:51 pm )
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Post #4
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Brad, it's obvious that you either didn't read the book to support post #3. Or that you aren't a zombie fan at all. And for those of us to enjoy the genre will be looking forward to the release of the film. Personally, I found the book interested and exciting. Each story opened up multiple new ideas and possibilities to explore in the genre that I had never thought about before.

- DW
( January 15th, 2009 | 10:25 am )
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