Last week it was reported that the cast and crew of the Brad Pitt film, ‘World War Z,’ will be called back to Budapest for 7 more weeks of reshooting. No explanation as to why the extensive shooting schedule was given but we may now have the reason.
If the reshoot scheduling or the fact that the film was pushed for a release 6 months after its initial scheduled opening didn’t give hints that the movie itself needed help, now comes the news that Paramount has brought in ‘Prometheus’ and ‘Star Trek 2’ scribe Damon Lindelof to rework the script.
THR is reporting that Lindelof will be focusing on the third act of the sceenplay. For those not in the know, Act III usually comprises the final quarter of a film. That means in a 2 hour movie, it would be the final 30 minutes. It’s usually the part of the film where the plot would reach its maximum tension and the adversaries in the movie confront each other followed by a resolution or ending of the film. Interestingly, famed Hollywood screenwriter Bill Wilder (‘Some Like It Hot,’ ‘Stalag 17,’ ‘Ocean’s Eleven’) had said, “If you have a problem with the third act, the real problem is in the first act.”
That doesn’t bode well for the film in whole. The book by Max Brooks has been received with critical acclaim by both fans and critics alike. Brooks had no involvement with the production of the film nor did he contribute to the writing of the script so we really don’t know how much of the actual novel is incorporated in the film.
‘World War Z’ is intended to be a zombie film set 10 years after a global zombie epidemic with social and political overtones with the hopes that it would be the start of a trilogy. Paramount is hoping to get the reshoots going sometime in September or October to give Lindelof enough time for the rewrites.
Here’s hoping that this fix is the only thing that is needed to save the film. With the mixed reviews that ‘Prometheus’ has had lately with the storyline, my usual faith in Lindelof is now a bit shaken. Wouldn’t you agree?
