Paramount has signed Marc Forster to direct their big-screen adaptation of World War Z, the novel by Mel Brooks’ son Max Brooks. Forster has quite the résumé, having directed Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland, Stranger Than Fiction, and most recently the new James Bond movie Quantum of Solace.

World War Z is a zombie story, but not your typical zombie tale. It details the events of the zombie apocalypse about 10 years after they took place from the viewpoint of various survivors of the infection.

J. Michael Straczynski (Changeling, Ninja Assassin) is writing the screenplay for Brad Pitt‘s B Plan, which is producing the film for a hopeful 2010 release date.

This is a very difficult genre to handle because of how often it’s been done before. In order to be successful, you have to either make the baddest ass zombie movie ever, or you have to do something no one has seen before. From the sounds of the book and synopsis, this is definitely sounding pretty unique.

[Source: Variety]