So just how much of a nightmare is Paramount's "World War Z"? By the looks of it, a zombie apocalypse would be preferable to what they're going through on the Brad Pitt tentpole. With the movie delayed to next summer, seven weeks of reshoots tentatively planned for this fall and the studio honcho admitting that so far, they've only got 45 minutes to 1 hour of a decent movie, a helluva lot of work needs to be done to prevent this from becoming a cautionary tale executives talk about in retirement. It was only last month that "Lost" and "Prometheus" scribe Damon Lindelof was brought in to try and bang out something better than what Paramount had before, but it turns out, he had a bit of help.
Deadline reports that while Lindelof did crack the ending, the actual writing duties fell to Drew Goddard, director of "Cabin in the Woods" and writer of Steven Spielberg's upcoming "Robopocalypse." That's a pretty great choice, and he showed with 'Woods' that he knows his way around a movie that turns genre expectations on its head. But here's the thing…Paramount isn't sure if they want to use it. Apparently, Christopher McQuarrie is being eyed to come in and do some work on "World War Z," but his participation is dependent on his schedule with Tom Cruise, as he will be punching up Doug Liman's "All You Need Is Kill" which is set to lens later this year. But moreover, this uncertainty seems to suggest that Paramount either don't know what they want, or aren't going to settle until they get something spectcular. Perhaps a mix of both.
Frankly, this is sounding like a repeat of last year's mess with the "Men In Black III" shoot which took a long, extended hiatus with no less than five writers rotating in and out to work on the movie. That said, audiences didn't seem to notice, as it has racked up over $600 million worldwide. So don't count this movie out yet — generally audiences don't pay attention to production woes — and if it does well, no one will remember its arduous journey to the big screen. But we can only imagine the movie is now overbudget (hiring guys like Lindelof and McQuarrie ain't cheap), and if it doesn't do well, there are going to be some serious questions that need answering.
Heads are going to roll at Paramount. Brad Pitt is going to fall on the sword for this. Mark my words. This movie isn't going to recoup it's high production costs plus tacking on marketing costs and advertising, it could well be within the 250 million dollar range, when it is all said and done.
Upwards of 170 million dollars, it has been rumored already spent on this movie, as it went over budget while it was filming…….and they only have 45 minutes- 1 hour of a "decent" movie. Not "great", not a sure fire "blockbuster", but decent?? How can anyone justify that, to those investors that bankrolled this film that there may just be a "decent" movie made from their investment, of which they may never see any returns??
I am guessing that no one at Paramount bothered to read the script – they only got as far as Brad Pitt and zombies and sent over a blank check
Now that they realize that they just spent a mountain of money on a courtroom procedural with precious few zombie scares and only brief battle sequences told in flashback, executive palms are getting sweaty. If they are shooting 7(!) more weeks, they are essentially making a whole new movie.
Maybe it would have been smarter to just let Brad Pitt and James Gray go make "Lost City of Z" after all.
While Paramount is throwing money around, could I get some? Any idea what this movie's budget will be after the re shoots and the platoon of screenwriters? Of course it will be PG-13 after the money they spent on it.
"but his participation is dependent on his schedule with Tom Cruise, as he will be punching up Doug Liman's "All You Need Is Kill" which is set to lens later this year."
I don't understand this sentence. Hasn't Jack Reacher finished shooting?
Man… And I loved this book. I hope this doesn't turn out to be a turdfest.
I just don't see how a PG-13 zombie can work.