Written by Ethan Sacks, New York Daily News, June 13, 2012
Photo courtesy of Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images
Much of the horror in Brad Pitt's zombie apocalypse epic
“World War Z” is reportedly happening behind the camera.
Paramount’s blockbuster project was originally set for a
December release, but was bumped to June 2013 after major problems that one
insider called “a nightmare from top to bottom,” including a budget that
swelled to $170 million and a convoluted ending requiring weeks of reshoots,
according to a Hollywood Reporter account.
Before the cameras started rolling, the studio had high
hopes — possibly even as the first installment of a trilogy — for the movie
based on Max Brooks’ popular novel, particularly given the popularity of AMC’s
“The Walking Dead.”
It should be remembered that James Cameron’s “Titanic” —
beset by an out-of-control budget and delays — was compared to the nautical
disaster before sailing on to become the highest-grossing movie of all time.
Pitt, who doubles as the film’s star and producer through
his company Plan B, personally tapped “Finding Neverland’s” Marc Forster, but
the director had no experience on a major effects-heavy movie the scale of
“World War Z.”
Though Forster had helmed a Bond movie — 2008’s “Quantum of
Solace” — it was largely considered a disappointment compared to its
predecessor, “Casino Royale.”
To surround him with an experienced crew, Pitt and producing
partner Dede Gardner hired several industry veterans, including second-unit
director Simon Crane, but that led to too many chefs stirring the pot,
according to the Hollywood Reporter.
“The director was not empowered,” an insider told the
publication. “There was nobody that steered the ship. … When you get [a
director\] who can’t do it all … you get a struggle as to whose is the singular
voice.”
Among other problems plaguing the production, according to
the report, are:
l Just weeks before the film was set to shoot, the
filmmakers were struggling to determine the look for the zombies, arguably the
single most important decision for a genre film.
l In August, Pitt himself had to rescue a female extra from
being trampled during the filming of a scene that involved 700 actors swarming
George Square in Glasgow, Scotland.
l Two months later, the production was temporarily halted
after a Hungarian anti-terrorism unit confiscated 85 fully functional,
military-style assault rifles that were supposed to be used in the movie in a
raid. The movie company’s employees apparently made a mistake — and an illegal
one, at that — by acquiring working automatic rifles.
“The film is already over budget and over schedule,” a
source told US Weekly at the time. “Brad is furious.”
l Though the principal shoot is long done, Paramount just
tapped “Prometheus” screenwriter Damon Lindelof to rewrite the last act of the
movie, which will require the reshoots.
