WORLD WAR Z Could Be Over Before It Begins, But Since It Was Going To Be PG-13…

Vulture is reporting that the $125 million price tag on Marc Forster and Brad Pitt’s adaptation of Max Brooks’ zombie war history book World War Z may be the head shot that kills the project. The film is just too expensive for the studio, and they’re scrambling looking for co-financiers. But if no one steps up, they’re going to drop the project.

And maybe that isn’t the worst idea. First of all, I’m not sure World War Z would work as a traditional movie. I’d like to see it attempted as a spoof doc, like one of those footage-and-talking-heads things you see on The History Channel, but I’m not sure there’s a real narrative in the book.

But most importantly, it turns out that Paramount wants to make the movie at a PG-13, and I’m hard pressed to see how a massive epic zombie war film can be done at a PG-13 and retain any level of impact. I guess giving the zombies black blood would tone down some of the ratings considerations, but the moment I heard this was a PG-13 film my interest immediately began waning.