World War Z (2013)

World War Z is a 2013 post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Marc Forster and written by Matthew Michael Carnahan. It is based on the novel of the same name by Max Brooks. It was released on 21 June 2013.

The film stars Brad Pitt as Gerry Lane, a former United Nations investigator who must travel the world to find a way to stop a zombie pandemic.

Plot
Former UN employee Gerry Lane, his wife Karin and their two daughters are in heavy Philadelphia traffic when the city is overrun by zombies that are attracted to sound. As chaos spreads, the Lanes escape to Newark, New Jersey and take refuge in an apartment, home to a couple with a young son, Tommy. UN Deputy Secretary-General Thierry Umutoni, an old friend of Gerry, sends a helicopter that extracts the Lanes and Tommy to a U.S. Navy vessel in the Atlantic where scientists and military personnel are analyzing the worldwide outbreaks. Andrew Fassbach posits that the plague is a virus and that development of a vaccine depends on finding the origin. Gerry agrees to help Fassbach find the outbreak's source after it is made clear that the Lanes will be removed from the cramped ship if he is not of use.

Gerry and Fassbach fly to Camp Humphreys, a military base in South Korea, where they are attacked on arrival by zombies. Turning to re-enter the aircraft, Fassbach slips, falls and accidentally shoots himself dead. After being rescued by the base's surviving personnel, led by Captain Speke, Gerry learns that the infection was introduced to the base by its doctor, who was ultimately incinerated by a soldier with a lame leg whom the infected ignored. A former CIA operative imprisoned at the base for selling weapons to North Korea (to help them fight the infection) tells Gerry to go to Jerusalem, where he says a safe zone has been maintained by the Israeli Mossad since before the outbreak's official acknowledgement. As Gerry and his team return to their aircraft, Karin—worried about her husband after he misses their pre-arranged call time—rings his satellite phone, attracting zombies who kill several soldiers, with only Gerry and his pilot escaping.

In Jerusalem, Gerry meets Mossad chief Jurgen Warmbrunn, who explains that months earlier, the Mossad had intercepted an Indian military message claiming that Indian troops were fighting the rakshasa, or "dead spirits". Israel had thereupon quarantined Jerusalem, erecting huge walls around it. Just as Jurgen shows Gerry that Israel is allowing survivors to take refuge in the city, loud celebratory singing from refugees prompts zombies to scale the walls and attack. Jurgen orders some Israeli soldiers to escort Gerry back to his plane. On the way, Gerry notices zombies ignoring an old man and an emaciated boy. Soon after, one of Gerry's escorts, a soldier who identifies herself only as "Segen" (lieutenant), is bitten in the hand, which Gerry quickly amputates to stop her turning. Gerry and Segen escape on a commercial airliner as Jerusalem is overrun.

Gerry contacts Thierry, and the airliner is diverted to a World Health Organization (WHO) facility outside Cardiff, Wales. When a stowaway zombie attacks on approach to Cardiff airport, Gerry uses a grenade to blow the infected out of the aircraft, which also causes the plane to crash. Gerry is injured, but both he and Segen survive. They proceed to the WHO facility, where Gerry loses consciousness. He awakens three days later and explains to the remaining WHO staff his theory, based on the people he has seen the zombies ignore: the infected do not bite the seriously injured or terminally ill since they would be unsuitable hosts for viral reproduction. He suggests that they test this by deliberately infecting somebody with a pathogen from the facility, but the pathogens are stored in a wing already overrun by zombies. Gerry, Segen and the lead WHO doctor go to get a pathogen. As they fight their way through, they are separated; Gerry continues to the pathogen vault while Segen and the doctor return to the main building. A zombie blocks the door to the vault, prompting him to inject himself with an unknown pathogen and open the vault, thereby testing his theory. The zombie ignores him, as do those he encounters while returning to the main building. Everybody rejoices at Gerry's success.

Gerry and his family are reunited in a safe zone at Freeport, Nova Scotia. A "vaccine", derived from deadly pathogens, is developed and issued to survivors battling the infected, acting as a kind of camouflage. The vaccine also helps survivors to reach quarantine zones. Successful human offensives begin against the zombies, and hope is restored. "This isn't the end," Gerry comments, "Not even close. Our war has just begun."

Cast

 * Brad Pitt as Gerry Lane, a former United Nations investigator with experience investigating in dangerous war zones.
 * Mireille Enos as Karin Lane, Gerry's wife.
 * Daniella Kertesz as "Segen" an Israeli soldier who accompanies Gerry during their escape from Israel.
 * James Badge Dale as Captain Speke, a soldier stationed at Camp Humphreys in South Korea.
 * Ludi Boeken as Jurgen Warmbrunn, the Director of Mossad; responsible for preparing Israel's pre-emptive defenses.
 * Matthew Fox as a U.S. Air Force Pararescueman sent by Umutoni to rescue the Lanes in Newark.
 * Fana Mokoena as Thierry Umutoni, the U.N. Deputy Secretary General.
 * David Morse as an imprisoned CIA operative who realized the threat and sold guns to North Korea.
 * Elyes Gabel as virologist Andrew Fassbach
 * David Andrews as a U.S. Naval Commander
 * Pierfrancesco Favino as a World Health Organization (WHO) doctor
 * Ruth Negga as a WHO doctor
 * Moritz Bleibtreu as a WHO doctor
 * Peter Capaldi as a WHO doctor
 * Sterling Jerins as Constance Lane, the younger Lane daughter.
 * Michiel Huisman as Ellis, a soldier stationed at Camp Humphreys in South Korea.

Production
In 2006, the producers Paramount Pictures and Plan B Entertainment, led by Brad Pitt, took over the rights to the novel World War Z and, after several years of impediments, the screenplay for the movie was finally written after having passed four writers.

After that the production of the movie began in July 2011 in Malta. There the shootings for the scenes of Jerusalem were made. Then the production continued in Scotland, specifically in Glasgow, where the Philadelphia scenes were made, and then in Hungary, especially in Budapest, where the Moscow battle scene and the ending scenes were made.

During the production several re-shootings happened, which led to the increase of the original budget from $125 million to $190 million and to the postponement of the release of the movie from 2012 to the year 2013. Because of this, many thought it would become a disaster at the box office.

Reception
The film became a commercial success becoming the highest-grossing zombie film of all time despite of the already mentioned skepticism in that direction. A sequel was planned, but it was cancelled.