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For those who don’t know, World War Z is a book by Max Brooks (Mel Brooks’, son, yes) that chronicles a future zombie apocalypse through the oral accounts of its survivors. The main character is Max Brooks himself, because when you’re an author you can do that sort of thing, and also because it makes it all the more realistic. He’s a journalist, see, going around the planet and recording conversations with some of the key survivors.

The book was praised for its authentic feel, despite the fact that it was about hordes of the undead returning to life to consume the living. Hey, stranger things have happened. The film, which has been through hell and back on its own terms (production did not go smoothly), has been helmed by Quantum of Solace director Marc Forster, and stars Brad Pitt as Max Brooks. Well, sort of. He plays Gerry Lane, who serves as a Max Brooks surrogate, presumably. He’s still a sort of journalist, anyway.

Now that we’ve done good and filled you in, check out the first actual footage for the adaptation below. It’s just a teaser for the trailer (which’ll debut later this week), but you get a good glimpse of the action and atmosphere. We have to say it’s actually looking pretty good. Those zombies are genuinely terrifying because they actually do look unstoppable (one major strand that carries through the book is that zombies are much harder to stop because of that whole hoarding thing). Look at ’em, climbing walls and rampaging down steps.

What do you make of this footage, then? Surprised? Disappointed? Confused for reasons you can’t explain?

World War Z opens June 21st, 2013. Bryan Cranston is in it, too. Isn’t that good?

Source:  The Film Stage