The casting for the adaptation of Max Brooks’ World War Z has so far been pretty awesome. When you start off with Brad Pitt in the leading role, you’ve already got yourself a golden cast. And when you add to that the rising Mireille Enos (TV’s The Killing), James Badge Dale (TV’s 24 and The Pacific), and the awesome Bryan Cranston (Drive), who is getting about everywhere recently, you’ve definitely secured yourself a fantastic cast.
Deadline are now reporting that the Marc Forster-directed film has another excellent addition to its cast in the form of acting veteran David Morse, well known for his parts in contemporary classics like The Green Mile and The Rock, and more recently in The Hurt Locker and TV’s Treme.
Morse may not be a household name, but that of course doesn’t mean that he isn’t a brilliant actor, and even if you may not know his name, his face is certainly recognisable. In World War Z, he is to play a convict living in an abandoned jail, which definitely sounds like an interesting role for him.
The film has already begun production, with photos from the costume department and the set appearing online. As such, it’s probably a fair assumption to make that Morse’s role won’t necessarily be a main one, but it could well be a sizeable role nonetheless, just as Cranston’s role has been described as small but memorable.
World War Z has somewhat contentiously changed the timeline of the novel for its adaptation from being a post-apocalyptic tale to a pre-apocalyptic one, with Brad Pitt racing against time before the zombie pandemic spreads beyond control. Arguably a major change to the original novel, and one which has sparked a bit of controversy, it’s still a film that I’m really looking forward to seeing next year. The film will be out in the States on 21st December, 2012, and though no UK release date has been announced yet, hopefully we can look forward to seeing it at the same time. More news as we get it.
