‘World War Z’ Could Die Without More Money; Marc Forster Agrees To PG-13
It seems like a no brainer, pun intended.Brad Pittproducing and starringin aMarc Forsterdirected adaptation of a popular book about a global zombie apocalypse featuring huge, innovative action scenes uncommon in your typical zombie film.World War Zhas beenkicking around Hollywood since beforeauthorMax Brooks(son of Mel Brooks) even published his book and, as it stands now, Paramount figures it will cost about $125 million to truly make theMatthew Carnahanscriptthe right way. According toVulture, though, Paramount is ready to pull the plug on the film entirely unless they can find a co-financier and that’s even with Forster agreeing to make the film PG-13. You read that right. A PG-13 zombie war movie. More after the break.
Vulture exclusively brokethe news of theWorld Warwoes. In talking to Vulture, Adam Goodman, the president of Paramount Film Group said the following:
Being committed reportedly means Paramount is currently in talks with an unnamed investor as well as David Ellison, who invested inTrue GritandMission: Impossible – Ghost Protocoland will pay for part ofTop Gun II, if that film ends up happening.
As teased above, the most alarming aspect of Vulture’s report isn’t that Paramount wants to partner on a big budget action horror film. That makes good financial sense. It’s that Forster agreed to makeWorld War Z, a decidedly violent book, as a PG-13 film. Arguably,The Walking Deadon AMC is a good zombie adaptation that’s told in a slightly (very slightly) toned down manner, but AMC can almost certainly get away with more than a movie studio. A TV-14 is obviously easier to manipulate than a PG-13 sinceWalking Deadhad blood splattering and nude zombies, both of which would be difficult to fit in a PG-13 film.
I sincerely hope Paramount finds the money to make this movie, as it was an entertaining read and very cool spin on the zombie thriller but, if it’s going to be watered down, I won’t be too upset if the film gets a shovel to the head. What do you think?
