World War Z could shoot as soon as next month; Robert Richardson named DP

My homie Brendon Connelly over at BleedingCool got the scoop that Robert Richardson will be handling the cinematography on the once troubled World War Z film. The fact that they're even at this stage of naming a DP is pretty remarkable when you consider the problems the film has had just over the last month. Based on Max Brooks' 2006 novel of the same name subtitled "An Oral History of the Zombie War". Reports are that Richardson is currently prepping at a studio in London, with the possibility of shooting to begin in as soon as a month. Richardson has twice won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for this work on JFK and The Aviator. So yeah, this is a pretty good pick up.

If you'll recall, the film was almost deader than disco due to Paramount looking for a co-partner to help finance the massive, expensive project. There was also some concern about making the very graphic story PG-13. Then late last month the fortunes turned back towards the positive, and now the film appears to be a top priority. Marc Forster is still set to direct based on a script by J. Michael Straczynski(Changeling). Brad Pitt will be starring and producing.

My worry over World War Z being PG-13 has calmed somewhat, and now that it looks like it's finally getting done(and soon) I'm pretty excited. My suggestion is that if you plan on checking out the book, read Brook's The Zombie Survival Guide as well.