Zombie novel World War Z has been in the works for a while, with Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczyinski writing the screenplay. However Matthew Michael Carnahan, the writer of Lions For Lambs, The Kingdom and State Of Play, has now been brought in to write a new draft of the script. It seems that not only is Hollywood keen to adapt the novel, but they’re taking the undead seriously, with some heavyweight people people working on the script who have experience creating complex, politically aware movies.
The book is a mock journalistic invertigation into a worldwide zombie outbreak. Based on extensive interviews with survivors and key players in the 10-year fight-back against the horde, it looks at how the outbreak came about and how some people survived the onslaught. The book is exceedingly cool, and you can see why they’re using writers of the calibre they’ve gone for, as to do it properly need someone who can ensure it doesn’t devolve into a typical zombie romp.
The film is currently due to be directed by Quantum Of Solace’s Marc Forster, although without a completed script there’s no news on when it might go in front of the cameras or when it’ll arrive in cinemas. Hopefully it won’t get lost in development hell, but this could make an absolutely superb movie.
Hop over to Amazon.co.uk to find out more about the fantastic book.