Is Brad Pitt is acting like a tantrumy baby during the ‘World War Z’ reshoots?

At some point last year, I started calling the film shoot of World War Z “the never-ending production.” Because it was. Brad Pitt was filming WWZ for most of last year, all over Europe. There was a Croatia shoot. There was a Budapest shoot. There was a London shoot. There was Scotland shoot. There was a studio shoot. It went on and on and on, and then they announced this year that Brad was going to have to come back and do extensive reshoots. Brad is not just the lead actor on the project – he’s also producing it. He actually nurtured this project from its infancy, buying the rights to the book and hand-picking Marc Forster as director. So what’s gone wrong? Well, the budget has bloated up to more than $170 million. Many sources say Forster got in over his head, and that Forster is the problem, fighting with Brad and his cinematographer and producers over every little thing. Some say Brad simply doesn’t care enough of the project, choosing to focus his attention on his various other film commitments and side-projects. Some say WWZ was always going to be a difficult film to adapt for the screen. Whatever is going on, the reshoots – which are happening right now – are going very badly. Vulture reported that Brad and Marc Forster aren’t even speaking to each other!

The horde of zombies in Paramount Pictures’ World War Z aren’t the only ones ravenous for brains: So is the troubled blockbuster’s star and producer, Brad Pitt, who Vulture hears exclusively from multiple production sources has become so frustrated with the film’s director, Marc Forster, that he stopped speaking to him altogether as the production heads into at least three weeks of reshoots.

Things got so bad that when Forster had notes on a scene for Pitt, they had to be relayed through an intermediary — and vice versa. We’re told that this awkward function was and is being largely fulfilled by a rotating trio of studio production president Marc Evans, Paramount film group head Adam Goodman, and Dede Gardner, a former executive at the studio who now runs Pitt’s company. And all this as the production crests $170 million as it heads into its costly reshoots, with an ending that is still in flux. (A representative for Creative Artists Agency, which represents both Pitt and Forster, declined to comment. Calls to Paramount were not returned by deadline.)

Ironically, Pitt, whose company, Plan B, is producing World War Z, originally fought for Forster to be given the director’s chair on World War Z. The studio was wary, because his only other big-budget action film was Quantum of Solace, the 2008 James Bond film that proved a notoriously difficult shoot; this was due to the rush to beat the clock on a looming 2007 Writers Guild of America strike, but sources say that problems were also partly a result of Forster having never shot a big-budget action movie before. Pitt was able to get Forster on the project, no doubt because of his history with Paramount chairman Brad Grey, who not only used to be his manager, but also was a partner in Plan B.

And now the zombie-apocalypse film seems to be plagued by a similar combination of scheduling, script, and directorial problems. The film was rushed into production in July 2011 in order to make a Christmas 2012 release date, even though the script wasn’t entirely ready. This speed proved for naught, as when both Paramount execs and Pitt became unhappy with how some of the big action set pieces were turning out, especially one at the end of the film that wasn’t cutting together properly, the studio decided to bump the film’s release until June of 2013. And in May, it was announced that Z would be returning to Budapest to shoot several weeks of additional material as well as reshoot some original scenes.

Now Paramount is trying to decide whether to just try to fix what they have or get writers to completely re-envision the film’s finale. “The studio is cultivating multiple options,” explains one of our production spies. “One is to try scrapping [the ending] and trying something different: They want to construct an entirely new ending to the movie. The other is to try salvaging it, because decent action can be elevated, and even shitty action can be saved. This is not an unmitigated disaster; it is salvageable.”

Last month, Lost exec producer and Prometheus scriptwriter Damon Lindelof was brought in to watch the movie and make suggestions to Paramount on what fixes were needed. “Body and fender work,” as it’s known in the talent agency business, is a common enough practice: A boldface-name screenwriter is brought in, makes notes, and suggests changes that are usually fixed with a few days of reshoots or additional production.

Problem is, sources tell us that Lindelof said the script needed months of work, not days — something he didn’t have time for — and changes were needed throughout the film, not just at the end. He did agree to work with his former Lost colleague Drew Goddard (Cloverfield, Cabin in the Woods) for the better part of a month to come up with framework script solutions. The studio is also reaching out to other writers, including Christopher McQuarrie, who did on-set rewrites for Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. (Though he may be too busy: He’s directing Tom Cruise’s Jack Reacher for the studio, which bumped that movie up to take Z’s old Christmas slot.)

Production sources tell Vulture that it is Pitt, not Forster, who has final approval over all the new pages generated by whatever writers work on the project over the next three weeks. And the communication breakdown between actor and director over how to reshoot it severely limits Paramount’s ability to foresee an end to production. Until the pages are approved, a budget cannot be calculated. And until a budget is tallied, the amount of time that will be spent to make the changes can’t be determined, either.

Meanwhile, another source inside World War Z adds that whatever happens with the script, additional — and possibly outside — directing help is likely to be sought for the action sequences that will need to be reshot. “They have to be careful, because the DGA has strict rules that say Forster has to be there on the set,” says this source, “But someone is likely to be brought in to help direct the new action scenes.”

All of this suggests some eventful weeks to come, but for now, the studio is, uh, dead quiet about what to do about the eerily “silent” partnership between Pitt and Forster.

[From Vulture]

Ugh, Damon Lindelof. I can’t even tell you how disappointed I am that Lindelof has anything to do with the script “fixes” (“Throw in a Space Jesus!”). But if Christopher McQuarrie gets his hands on it, maybe something will be worked out. It does sound like the problems go beyond “rewriting the ending” and “a few scenes could be cut.” This sounds like a complete disaster, with enough blame to go around for anyone. I would like to believe that Brad – who, by most accounts, is a consummate professional – wouldn’t be giving the silent treatment to his director. But maybe he’s just SO “over it” at this point, he can’t even pretend to be working sh-t out. Or maybe he re-hired that cute brunette assistant and he’s not paying attention to anything else.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.

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94 Responses to “Is Brad Pitt is acting like a tantrumy baby during the ‘World War Z’ reshoots?”

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  1. foozy says:

    fire the director already!

  2. foozy says:

    don’t like the look on that assitant’s face!! they all give that look when they’ve been naughty…

    • dallasite40 says:

      Had to comment because you are so right. Lol! She looks guilty of something….

    • Emma - the JP Lover says:

      Look at the photo again. Brad ‘and’ the assistant (if that’s really her, it could be an actress in the film … the assistant looked taller) are both looking at something directly in front of them in a down angle.

      If the young lady in the photo is an actress, as I suspect, they’re probably looking at some of the daily (directors will sometimes have actors look at pieces of film they’ve just shot to determine if there’s a need for a re-shoot).

    • Joanna says:

      i can tell by the look on your face you’ve been up to something. i know what youve been doing.

  3. lisa2 says:

    Brad does not have a reputation for being difficult with anyone. And as noted a professional in all his dealings. Everyone always speaks so highly of him. I think the problem with the script was they decided after to maybe make it a trilogy and if that was the case the ending had to leave an opening for another film. Some people are acting as if this is the only film that has or had production issues. I guess it is because it is Brad that it is being made into some big deal because or reshoots that have not even started and won’t until some time in September.

    I remember when Moneyball was stopped just before filming and everyone counting it out. Well that turned out just fine and I suspect this will to. If anyone read WWZ then you know it is a difficult book to make into a film. Lots of stories and you have to figure out which to keep and which to leave out. That being the case the film is not an actual account of the book but and interpretation of the book. And of course people think every book made into a film should be the exact same. Well everyone has not read the book and I for one don’t mind when there are some difference. Otherwise I would just read the book and let my imagination take the lead.

    I doubt a lot of what is being reported is true. Brad is in London, Foster is in LA. They could hardly have face to face talks. And Brad has 2 other producing partners that are working on this too.

    • MrsBPitt says:

      I’m not going to worry too much…making Jaws, Spielberg had more problems than John Travolta having a woman masseuse. Everything that could possibly go wrong, did…and that movie turned out great. Of course, Forster is probably no Spielberg…so I could be wrong…wtf do I know!

      • Ducky La Rue says:

        @MrsBPitt: “Spielberg had more problems than John Travolta having a woman masseuse”

        LOLOLOL! 😀

    • blah says:

      Moneyball was a completely different beast as this project though. It was stuck in development hell for years because the studio and producers took their time with the project to ensure that it would turn out just right. The powers at be were proactive about canning anyone who wasn’t right before things got too hairy. After the near disaster with Soderbergh at the helm, the studio got Aaron Sorkin to do a pass on the screenplay to make sure it was rock solid before principal photography, then hired the guy who did Capote to direct.

      The problem with WWZ is that it went into production when the script was nowhere near ready to be filmed. People who have signed on are completely wrong for the project, and now they’re trying to sort out issues they should have resolved before principal photography way too late- in post. Add to the fact they have a huge fan base they’re worried about alienating (def not the same as merely changing a book to fit another medium), and are trying to rework the plot to make it franchise friendly when they should have decided one way or other early on. The whole thing is a mess they’re trying to fix as soon as they can, when the right thing to do (and what they should have done all along) is take their time with it.

  4. olivia says:

    Who knows, WWZ might end up being all right and doing okay when all is said and done. However, it’s interesting that things have devolved this much on set, and quite telling about Pitt’s level of professionalism – or more appropriately, his lack thereof – that as a man of almost 50 who’s been in this industry all this time, he would choose to act this petty with what amounts to the his on-set boss. Lucky for him he is an indulged movie star, because normal adults can’t have such temper tantrums in their careers and expect to keep their jobs. And I buy this story 100% because it comes from Vulture – a site that frequently reports on filming news, not some low-rent tabloid. That’s also telling – that an outlet like Vulture would get this info and run with it, painting him in the negative light that such actions call for.

    • blah says:

      Oh come on. I don’t like Pitt for subjective reasons but the guy is a consummate professional and the issue with World War Z has nothing to do with him being bratty, throwing “temper tantrums”, and being overindulged.

      This is his pet project- he has a ridiculous amount of time, cash, energy, and resources invested. Moreover, films are a multimillion dollar business investment- of course there’s going to be drama.

      I don’t think anyone is walking away from this thinking he’s a jerk or a diva. Everyone involved is just in over their head- happens to the best of people. It’s a shame they’re acting like this but honestly, par for the course during film production. It’s actually surprising when a film is made WITHOUT issues. Try working on a film some time.

      • The Original Mia says:

        Stop making sense!

      • NM6804 says:

        WWZ being his pet project, I say it has everything to do with him. He nor fans can’t shake of the huge responsibility he carried by producing this flick. He made all the big decisions so I beg to differ that he doesn’t have something to do with all this.

        Every reputable film magazine has pointed out in several articles where it went wrong:

        – PITT wanting Forster despite his less than stellar resumé
        – PITT being absent from pre-production because he was doing another project and afterwards wanted to have family time.
        – the gun smuggling disaster

        This is not gossip, this is information from the industry itself. Unless Vulture or the Hollywood Reporter are all of a sudden liars?! For what purpose then?

        If Pitt isn’t to blame, who is? He was leading it. They could have bought more time and money yet didn’t provide either and just went along with it (no script, no clear vision, unexperienced director) and now it’s a catastrophe and Pitt doesn’t feel like dealing with it properly. Great and in the meantime, people are losing a LOT of money.

        And since when are A-listers known for being reasonable? When you are climbing your way to the A-list, that’s when you need to shut up and behave or you’ll have a Pettyfer situation, a hard-to-sell image. In this thread, others have pointed out that he’s not always as professional as he seems (I remember Jolie and Pitt disagreeing with Liman’s vision on MAMS and sorry but they are not the writers or directors so zip it and work) and I have no reason not to believe this report because A-lister are protected most of the time but Pitt is digging his own grave. I think the reason why they are going so hard on WWZ is because of Pitt’s inability to take control:

        Until the pages are approved, a budget cannot be calculated. And until a budget is tallied, the amount of time that will be spent to make the changes can’t be determined, either.

        He’s pissing of the studios by his inability to communicate and delegate properly and wasting precious money and time they are understandably angry.

        These issues are most certainly not normal and very unprofessional to say the least. I can’t see that many films go under that much scrutiny and is plagues with delays, scandals, power issues…Maybe the film will be great but I highly doubt it since the script had issues from day 1 up until this very moment!

        And fuck me for this response almost supporting olivia who just copied her comment from somebody smarter (no doubt!).

      • blah says:

        Thanks. Great points. I agree that Pitt fucked up big time and that he’s definitely to blame for this. I’m also not disputing the veracity of Vulture by any means. I just don’t feel the need to crucify him for it. Making a film is rough- so many creatives and stakeholders fighting for their piece of the pie.

        He’s invested a lot of himself in this project, and I feel like if/when the ship goes down, he’s going to go down with it. It could be why I’m more kindly disposed towards him than I should be!

      • NM6804 says:

        I kinda think he’s a jerk in this occassion. He’s the one with the big money and he’s letting his dear project go to shits.

        Now, if this was a young guy, I would be more forgiving. I mean, like you said, it is rough and everybody wants a piece of you and making decisions in that cuthroat business? Better him than me!

        But , a huge but: he’s an experienced A-list actor/producer with people supporting him from every angle from the smallest to the biggest issues. Brad Grey is the fucking boss of Paramount, his former partner for pete’s sake! He holds a lot of clout in Hollywood and he’s an adult man nearing his fifties. These kind of ridiculous antics can easily be avoided. The fact that Pitt chooses not to communicate with people who NEED his direction and who Pitt chose to enter the team for his pet project is beyond ridiculous.

        Also, my personal opinion. Hiring Lindelof is done for a guaranteed blockbuster without any content. So it’s just for the money now I suppose after losing so much money.

        Better him than me.

        Sorry for the long comments, procrastinating for a big essay and JP-gossip is always good to waste time with!

    • Emma - the JP Lover says:

      Olivia, if Brad is the producer (or one of them) the director probably reports to him.

      The producer (or producers) is usually with the project from the beginning. They either obtain the rights a project is based on or is part of raising funds for the project. They are the ones who pitch the idea to the Studio and then tries to keep the project on line with the vision presented to the Studio. A good Producer is prepared to fight with the Studio if the project changes direction/vision for the better in mid production.

      The on site Producer mediates all problems on set, acts as the eyes and ears of the Studio, and cracks the whip, can ask for a drug screen, plays the heavy, and does the firing when needed. Some film productions will have more than one on set producer, each handling different aspects of the production (script problems, day to day budget demands, and personnel).

      Frank Marshall is a good example of an extremely competent on set Producer. He was one of three producers involved with all three “Bourne” films.

      When a director is unhappy with a script or the actors (unless he’s Oliver Stone, Clint Eastwood, Chris Nolan, Peter Jackson etc, who actually have Studio approval to ‘hire’ their own actors), he bi$ches and moans to the Producer(s).

      Since Brad is both actor and producer, I imagine he and the director have had some pretty heated fights. And when/if Brad has finally had enough with the director … the director will be SO out of there.

  5. amelia says:

    Handbags at dawn fisticuffs, anyone?
    I’ll bring the popcorn.
    For the record though, I don’t think he banged his assistant.

    • blah says:

      Seriously! There’s so much stressful crap going on with this movie the guy probably can’t even get it up!

  6. blah says:

    Honestly, it doesn’t make a difference how much less or more crappy the set drama is going to make this movie. Fans wrote it off as POS disaster even before it went into production. They’re pissed that the film is deviating from the book’s format of news reports, the rejigged ending, etc, and are dismissing the whole shebang as watering down an amazing story to just another generic zombie movie.

    Not the biggest fan of Pitt but he’s a good producer, but I have to say he got way in over his head with this one. His specialty is dramas- Peter Jackson and Joss Whedon he is not. Unless you count Moneyball (sports fans), nothing in his repertoire has really catered to a super dedicated fan base. Hell hath no fury like a nerd fanboy scorned (Shyamalan learned that with the Last Airbender) and I have to wonder if the people involved with WWZ should have taken a test drive on, say, a smaller scale graphic novel adaptation before taking this on.

    Ah well, maybe it will work out in the long run, and/or find a cult audience. I don’t think people should come down on Pitt too much for set drama though. Films are such a nightmare to make, and even the best of Hollywood professionals get sucked into drama.

    • diana says:

      Nah, this was definitely not meant for cult audience, just like Moneyball was not just meant for sportsfans. They attempted to make a R rated book into PG 13, and I think that’s why he chose the Finding Neverland director. And noe they are struggling because Forster does not simply know how to shoot action sequences. In the end the kids will go to watch zombies, the adults for Brad Pitt, and that’s all. If not for all this drama, it would have made a summer blockbuster, and I bet it will now be just a ‘near hit’.

    • cupidityrox! says:

      God! Last Airbender sucked so hard! I’m still pissed @ everyone involved in that mess

    • blah says:

      Blergh I forgot abt Pitt producing Kick Ass, which did amazing. He did do a test drive. Still wasn’t enough to take on something of this size I guess, and yeah, he should have picked a director more experienced with special effects.

  7. LucyOriginal says:

    My mother always told me to be careful what I wish for… He wanted this director, deal with it and solve the issue. I hope Christopher McQuarrie gives a lot of input to improve this movie. Lindelof on the other hand, meh…Prometheus, anyone?

  8. GoodCapon says:

    The big question is… is it a good book? 😀 I haven’t read it yet. I’m still stuck on Dune.

    • Pandy says:

      It’s a great book – I couldn’t put it down and am still excited to see the movie. Mind you, I totally dig all things zombie …

    • lioness says:

      The book is excellent. Really imaginative and with a writer who interweaves current regional and international issues with a zombie epidemic. And yes, the results are spectacular. Now, if I was Pitt I would be pissed out of head seeing such a big project falling apart. Especially if I thought that it was the director’s fault.

    • orion70 says:

      Yes, it is an excellent book. Even if you’re not a fan of the zombie genre, I think you’ll like it.

      I remember reading Dune in highschool and loving it. Loved the movie too tbh.

  9. Vic says:

    If Stephen Soderbergh had directed this it would have already been released and out on DVD by now

    • The Original Denise says:

      LOL! So true!

    • carrie says:

      +1

      when there is many trouble in the production,it’s because there wasn’t enough preparation(3 weeks before the filming,the director didn’t know how looking his zombies were,the director was NOT the favorite of the studio,script trouble)
      You can’t improvise in a huge movie(Terminator Salvation for example) and never start a filming without a complete script(Alien 3)

  10. Scout says:

    Noooo!!!

  11. Mia 4S says:

    This shouldn’t have been a movie. The book’s format was crying out for a miniseries or limited run TV series. Definitely HBO, FX, or AMC to do the horror justice. I really so hope it works out but I have a bad feeling!

  12. diana says:

    Brad Pitt is personally said to be nice to the crew, but his professionalism, meh.
    Remember how he jumped out of The Fountain, and recently The Lost City of O. And then there were reports he wasnt satisfied with any movie he shot because he s a perfectionist (The Devil’s Own, IWAV, MAMS, Meet Joe Black etc) and has a proven history of clashing with the studios (Assassination Of Jesse James with Warner Bros). This film kind of reminds me of Troy, a costly disaster. So in the end it might earn overseas but will just tank at the domestc BO like Troy and disappoint the book fans.
    If BP was such a good professional, how does he not have any franchise under his belt, like Will Smith, Tom Cruise, Bale, RDJ, Bruce Willis etc.? And Oceans doesnt count. Heck even AJ has Tomb Raider under her belt. I think he tried to make WW Z into a franchise trilogy and now he should be happy if he can even complete this movie.

    Btw am a great fan of BP as an actor and believe in every single movie of his. So may be this is an attempt on his part not to put out a half baked movie with his name. If really he’s stopped talking to that disastrous director (Quantum of Slace, anyone?) I expect the reshoots will be made with the help of any other director.

    • carrie says:

      Pitt is not perfect but he worked several times with Fincher (painful,painful perfectionist)and Soderbergh (“i work with every one except the assholes”) and he’s a respected producer.
      I think the director is NOT adequate and the filming wasn’t enough prepared (they knew there are some troubles in the 3rd act)

    • LAK says:

      ‘If BP was such a good professional, how does he not have any franchise under his belt, like Will Smith, Tom Cruise, Bale, RDJ, Bruce Willis etc’

      A franchise is a mark of a good actor?????

      Well, there goes my accessment of Steven Seagal,Jean Claude Van Damme, Dolf Lundgren, Jason Statham, Stallone, Arnie’s acting skills. Bruce Willis was a part of this group but at some point decided to risk his action career, and it was considered a risk, to make more meaningful pictures. Just as it was considered a huge risk to have an indie actor as the lead in Spiderman [Toby Macguire] or indie director for Xmen [Bryan Singer].I am old enough to remember when a respected actor couldn’t touch an action fantasy [called B pictures] picture. I even remember the furore when Nicholas Cage started doing them and was considered a sellout.

      I blame George Lucas and stephen Spielberg for making B pictures so successful that they are now considered the only mark of a good actor.

      The funny thing is they make quality B pictures. Most people these days are hacks.

      I am with Lainey on this one. The audience goes to see crap, so the studios make more crap and after a while, the crap is the only thing considered good or worth making. Failing that, they recycle old proven ideas again and again.

  13. Victoria says:

    I am a friend of a famous movie star & my husband and I spent some time on his movie set. The director never gave directions or told the star what to do, it was the responsibility of the AD.

    You just do not tell a star what to do. Do you think Marc actually directed Pitt in scenes? Or told him to do it over? Clint found out that stars like Leo do not take direction. Harrison Ford has said this in an interview as well.

    • carrie says:

      there are different directors but here it’s clear that the director is NOT the boss in the set

    • Emily says:

      If this is true, it would explain why the quality of acting in movies has plummeted in the past few decades. It’s also pretty brainless of the directors and the studios. Back when directors did tell stars what to do, people went to movies for the stars. All you had to know was that Greta Garbo or Clark Gable or Jimmy Stewart or Ginger Rogers or whomever you liked was in it, and you’d see the movie. Not any longer.

  14. Joanna says:

    seriously, enough with the cute assistant thing! just ’cause a chick’s pretty, it doesn’t mean she’s sleeping with everyone. it’s amazing how some women get so insecure when a pretty woman’s around. just saying, in general, women can be so mean to younger pretty women.

  15. Shoes says:

    From reading the trade magazine reports, this sounds like a total clusterf*ck. Greenlighting one script, then ditching it altogether. Starting film production without a set script, and now it’s on it’s 4th or 5th screenwriter? Foster sounds like he was in over his head, but also that he was undermined by all additional “help” brought in. Just way too many cooks in the kitchen.

    No matter whose fault this is, having two of the film’s most important people not speaking to each other is not going to improve things or help this movie get finished. They’re grown men. Suck it up and stop being babies.

  16. Bubulle says:

    This is so ludicrous Pitt fought to get Foster on board and he also fought to get script rewriting, and now he’s behaving like a diva because things are going wrong and it’s all his fault, he should have stayed where he is and work on his acting abilities instead.

  17. cupidityrox! says:

    This movie’s going straight to dvd

  18. Coco says:

    Brad Pitt is an old has been. She haven’t had a hit movie in years. He has builded his career on his good look. But his good look has faded away. He is still relevant only because Angelina and previously Jennifer.

    • diana says:

      ????
      Oh I understand
      Zombies from WW Z have started trolling the net now

    • MrsBPitt says:

      Umm…maniac…Brad was just nominated for an academy award last year…so I think his carreer is just fine!

    • Emma says:

      What? His choices since getting with Angelina are miles better than before. Tree of Life, Moneyball, Benjamin Button, Burn After Reading, Inglourious Basterds are all very interesting and critically acclaimed movies. He’s not the blockbuster cheesy movie type and never was.

    • Emily says:

      Brad Pitt was only relevant because of Jennifer Aniston.

      Oooookay.

    • Vesper says:

      WTF?

  19. Johnny says:

    …and another one bites the dust! I am thinking Pitt needs to just stick to acting. How long has it been since he had a blockbuster?

    • blah says:

      Two movies he produced were nominated for best picture oscars last year, and one won the top prize at Cannes. Call me crazy but I don’t think he’s doing too badly as a producer.

  20. Maya says:

    It’s all Angelina’s fault!

  21. Holly says:

    The assistant is very pretty. Hmmmm

  22. lower-case deb says:

    someone said, it’s because malick rubbed off on pitt. isn’t malick a difficult director to work with too? picky and whateverelse.

    i was actually hoping for Brad Bird. i’m a fan of that pixar cartoon he did, and he made M:I4 into something that most of us can live with (unlike Andrew Stanton’s John Carter outing. which i must give a disclaimer now: i actually like John Carter, i don’t vehemently dislike it like some of my friends did).

    • carrie says:

      Malick is not difficult to work ( see the daily candids of KoC with Bale,Portman,Pinto…) but he doesn’t hesitate to cut the characters (even acted by famous actors) or even change the story in the editing room

    • blah says:

      Malick’s problem is he needs another eye…badly! He writes his own movies, directs them, AND gets final cut. He’s not brutal to work with but he has his weirdness. Google Christopher Plummer on youtube saying he’ll never work with him again (Clooney laughs when he’s talking and tells Plummer at least he didn’t get cut out of the whole thing, and Plummer says he’s jealous of Clooney and wishes he did). Personally his habit of not discriminating who he cuts out makes me LOL (actors need their egos checked). I love how in Thin Red Line all these A-listers were reduced to nothing yet Elias Koteas got a good chunk of the spotlight.

      Malick’s a nature nut and will hold up shooting scripted scenes if he sees some kind of bird he likes or whatever. Like a lot of auteurs (Lucas, now Tarantino, etc) he has way too much jurisdiction and needs somebody to keep him reined in. Scorsese hasn’t had that problem bc he’s been working with the same editor for decades, who’s the best editor in the world. Maybe Malick treats his actors nicely, but at the end of the day he’s still difficult and refuses to compromise HIS vision.

      • LAK says:

        i’ll give you Wong Kar Wai for your Terrence Mallick. He rarely starts or finishes with any script. He has said he doesn’t really know what he is doing but simply going by gut, how he feels etc.Like MAllick, his shoots can go on for years, the actors don’t really know what they are shooting or if they will end up in the final cut. Zhang Ziyi started out an unknown, made 2-3 films that turned her into a star during the 5yr shoot of 2046.

  23. Ashley says:

    amon ilindelof isn’t doing it anymore he bowed out citing that it was just to much of a problem,the script, so drew goddard came in to try to fix the ending

  24. Katherine says:

    blah, thanks for your insight into all this and film production in general.

    Too much time and money has been expended on this film – no one is walking away from it. They’ll fix it like they fix many other films that encounter seemingly impossible obstacles.

    It’s a good story in whatever form it is retold. I was partial to a miniseries but there’d be something to bitch about that if that happened. This is a movie and as such was naturally going to be be different from the book – which I love

    There’s enough pathos and fright and hope and fun in the Max Brooks story itself that a great movie is completely possible. This is just another example of the modern media on steroids. It’s as if no one can resist dramatizing every single thing in the known universe. Add a Brad Pitt or an Angelina to the mix and it becomes uncontrolled and unreliable melodrama.

    • blah says:

      Thanks. Haha, it’s ironic. Ironically this whole debacle is making me like Pitt. I couldn’t stand him before- I thought he was a kind of dopey, fame hungry, bland movie star who only stood out in the looks department, but everything he’s put on the line for WWZ shows me that he’s really passionate about filmmaking. He’s not just in it for the fame and the exposure and publicity- he really wants to create something monumental. It says something to me that his “difficulty” stems from the product not being up to his standards of quality as opposed to personal vanity issues. Like Tom Cruise making a stink bc such and such actor looks taller than him, screen time, etc.

      People have commented on how Pitt isn’t as young as he was, therefore his mistakes with WWZ are less forgivable, but this project has the largest scope of anything he’s tackled before. Nobody’s perfect I guess.

  25. Nina says:

    there was no World War Z shoot in Croatia. i’m croatian, i would heard about it

  26. Tansey says:

    World War Z is my all time favorite book. I’ve read it so many times and when the author was at my city’s library last year meeting fans, I rushed down to have my book signed. It’s one of my most prized possessions.

    Shortly after this movie was first announced, rumors started floating around that the movie wasn’t going to follow the book and that the only reason the rights were bought was because they wanted the title “World War Z”. This has me a little nervous, but I’m still hoping it’ll turn out to be a great movie. However if the rumors are true, then I can’t help but feel this is karma for ruining the chance to make an awesome book into an awesome movie. I’m still looking forward to its release, but I’m definitely not getting my hopes up.

    • Claudia says:

      This is exactly what I heard too. Apparently the original script to greenlight the movie was great, but then extensive rewrites were ordered which deviated the script strongly from the source material. It barely resembles the book now.

      As much as I love Brad, he completely effed up on this one from the get-go (extensively rewritten and deviating script, director, rush to production before a finalized script, etc.). What a mess.

      So disappointed :*( I really loved the book.

      • LAK says:

        Script re-writes are the norm. very rarely has the original script, however praised, been the shooting script.

  27. GrandPoobah says:

    Coming from a source like Vulture, I’m kinda disappointed in everyone involved. Chances are everything they are saying is true since it’s not some celebrity rag.

    For those of you clutching your pearls over the idea that Brad could possibly not be all sunshine and rainbows all the time, Brad is very capable of acting like an a**. Everyone is capable of not being nice every once and awhile. This is his pet project and it’s not turning out well; I would surmise that would put him in a poor mood.

    I think the problem is that the book doesn’t lend itself well to becoming an action film. It’s a series of interviews and has a documentary feel to it. Had they done that-made it into a sort of documentary about the zombie apocalypse, I feel like that would have worked. The book isn’t full of action-the book is slow and dense and full of imagination and politics. I would have loved to have seen a talking-heads zombie docu-drama. That would have been interesting and new.

    Turning it into a big action film just feels wrong. And I think that’s why the fans of the book (like myself) aren’t thrilled with the news about the film. And I think that might be why it’s not working and it’s becoming such a nightmare. They are forcing the book into a film that it just isn’t-trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

    • blah says:

      That’s a common refrain I keep hearing about the film adaptation: “why didn’t they turn it into a series of interviews and film it documentary style?” It’s what Peter Jackson + Blomkamp did for District 9- box office win, plus best picture oscar nomination.

      It’s beyond me why some people who take on projects with dedicated fan bases don’t respect and listen to the people who put their faith in the concept from the beginning. Just because an idea is well loved won’t guarantee it will do well just by virtue of switching it to another medium. Joel Schumacher funked Batman and Robin bc on set, ppl kept hearing “it’s just a comic book”. Shyamalan did dreadful things to the Last Airbender. While satisfying the fans won’t ensure it will do well with critics, it will, at least guarantee an audience instead of alienating everyone.

      • GrandPoobah says:

        Exactly-I think you lose the reason why people love it in the first place when you change integral parts of the structure of the original material.

        I liked World War Z firstly because it was incredibly imaginative. Second because it was a new way of approaching the zombie genre. A book that was as much about politics and world affairs that it was about horror.

        It isn’t a straight horror novel and that’s what I love about it. Turning it into a big dumb action film was bound to alienate a large portion of, if not the entire, fan base of the book.

      • LAK says:

        Having worked on several book adaptations i can tell you that it is a very different medium.

        Alot of what works as written word does not translate as visual medium in a believeable way. There is also the pesky imagination to be realised for as wide an audience as possible.

        Depending on the genre, film adaptations shouldn’t follow the books so closely. It rarely works or makes sense.

        IMHO there are only a handful of film adaptations that followed the book source closely and still worked eg The GODFATHER.

        Fantasy genres are especially tough. Fanbase expectations can really cripple film expectations eg Peter Jackson did a very good take on LOTR but it is an interpretation rather than a chapter by chapter interpretation of source material.ditto Tim Burton for the first 3 BATMAN films. Chris Nolan did a great job of not following fan expectations after the success of Tim Burton’s BATMAN interpretations.

        Bryan Singer did the same for Xmen but then allowed fanbase expectations to colour his interpretation of SUPERMAN RETURNS, right down to the actor who was cast as SUPERMAN leading to a dire film. i am not putting all this on the directors because i know that the studios also have an input, sometimes to the detriment of the director.

        I find it harder to watch a film that has a book as it’s source material when the adaptation follows the book very closely. It’s the equivalent of an audio book to me. A film is more enjoyable on it’s own merits. Harry Potter 3 was such a film for me.

  28. tonina says:

    Lawwwwd, I remember when they tried to do Hitch Hikers’ Guide to the Galaxy for the big screen.
    That was disappointing. And I guess they shelved all the sequels.
    Am afraid this is what’s going to happen with WWZ.

  29. moja31 says:

    How is this movie still filming? It’s been like 2 years. Kind of like that Henry Cavill superman movie that seems like it’ll never come out.

    • lisa2 says:

      The movie has some CGI elements and that takes time. It is not shooting at the moment. Reshoots is not redoing a film.

      I’ll wait for the film to actually be finished before screaming it is a failure. But then I like to see the end product before passing judgement.

      • NM6804 says:

        Reshoots is not redoing a film.

        Seven weeks of reshoots + studio pushing back the project for six months means they should be in post-production around this time or at least stopped filming key scenes for an initial December release. You can’t add CGI when your action scenes aren’t finished or re-shot.

        They are basically reshooting the second half of the film (paraphrasing film mags here). A normal shoot is two max. three months, reshoots a few weeks to correct some small details (not to literally re-shoot every other scene).

        Even without reshoots films can be delayed greatly. Their worrying is not without reason. Who knows when this film comes out because at this moment, the film is not moving at all.

        Weirdly enough, it makes me even more curious to go see the film. Just to see for myself how bad it really is OR how good they were able to turn the disaster in a success although I don’t expect the script to be a masterpiece if Lindelof has a hand in it. Either way, it’s very intriguing to follow!

    • carrie says:

      Man Of Steel?

  30. Mira says:

    I love the book. I’ll see the movie in whatever shape it’s released and then complain or throw shit at Pitt for ruining the book.

  31. Jonah says:

    What Producer or Director doesn’t get irritated at times? What does this prove?

  32. Lurkeelee says:

    I think the flick will be good in the end. At least with all the rewrites and adjustments you know they are trying to put out a quality project. Brad and co could have just put it out there without caring, so they are thinking of box office, reviews and potential of sequels and trying to make it perfect or at least as very good as it can be. I’m looking forward to it.

  33. eric says:

    Personally don’t care for apocalyptic dystopian fiction, I’m more Hemingway, Capote, Nabokov reader, this has happened before with Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities, which was not a very good book to begin with, but became unwatchable movie. The screenplay was re-written a million times.
    Since the current screenplay for Z no longer resembles anything from the original book, this is the end of this movie. Adopting books to screenplays is like separating the white from the yolk in the egg,(keeping main points of the material), not throwing the egg away and starting from scratch.
    The idiot studio heads don’t know quality fiction, they skip to page 9 or 25 and the last page of screenplay to check if the story meets a certain arc, and they never actually read the screenplay, they have readers for that, and that’s how we end up with movies like Ishtar and Water World.
    Since Brad Pitt is always high and can barely read, I can see where this project is going, the dumpster bin of February movie releases.
    If only Leonardo Dicaprio won the movie rights bidding on this book, this would have been in post-production and in presentable form.

    • Vesper says:

      Good God, for a guy who is “always high and can barely read…”, he’s had a very successful career. I wonder how he handles travelling around the world, raising six kids, maintaining a seven year relationship, and being involved in how many humanitarian endeavors while being trashed 24/7? I guess not everybody can be Tom Cruise.

      • Aud says:

        hehehehe…
        It’s easy to have a successful career if you hire a lot of hangers on…ie nannies, cleaners, chefs, etc.
        I wouldn’t count his recent films as anything outstanding. This one will be a complete flop.

  34. Alberto Cox says:

    When Damon Lindelof says that your script isn’t making any sense…

    It is actually a sound marketing value to keep the fanboys pleased, regardless of how small s group they might be. In a way, they are the frontline critics, if you piss them off, they will go church of scientology on your film, which will disuade the rest of the audience as well. On the other hand, if you pull a LOTR or a Nolan, you have free word of mouth publicity with ease.

  35. samira677 says:

    I know this site hates Brad but I think trying to make him look worse than he is is stupid. I could be wrong but wasn’t the shoot from sometime in June to sometime and October? Four or five months is not close to never-ending. Claims that Brad is having an affair with his assistant were ridiculous a year ago and lol now.

  36. Aud says:

    I think this film will be one of the biggest duds.
    I’ve read various accounts, but in a nutshell, the script was so terrible that they had to bring in another writer to tie up loose ends that resulted in reshoots.

  37. RHONYC says:

    man, oh man!

    that Doug Pitt sure is lookin’ better & better looking. 😛

  38. Patricia says:

    Brad looks like an old shoe.

    Better than looking like Bruce Jenner I guess but ugh – I’m not sure he’s blockbuster material anymore.