First Look: World War Z and  
Warm Bodies

Worried about how you’re going to get your zombie fix after the latest season of The Walking Dead is over? Well, fear no more. A double-dose of apocalyptic euphoria is on the way.

First comes a look at the highly-anticipated adaptation of Max Brooks’ epic novel World War Z. While the book would suggest a fragmented, multi-POV approach (think last year’s Contagion), this first trailer hints at a more Brad Pitt-centric affair. Pitt stars as a globetrotting U.N. fact-finder searching for the source of a zombie pandemic. The zombie hordes seem to be suffering from the same weightless CGI affliction as the creatures in I Am Legend, but the sheer scale of this promises zombie destruction, the likes of which we have never seen.

The film’s notoriously troubled production, which included seven weeks of reshoots and a complete overhaul of the third act, forced Paramount to push back its original release date in December. Have director Marc Foster (Finding Neverland, Quantum of Solace) and his team of writers had sufficient time to iron out the kinks and hopefully kickstart a trilogy? We’ll find out June 21. The film also stars Mireille Enos, Matthew Fox, James Badge Dale, and David Morse.

Providing a nice contrast to the dire global circumstances in World War Z is the lighter and more intimate rom-zom-com Warm Bodies, writer/director Jonathan Levine’s follow up to his Oscar-nominated cancer dramedy 50/50.  The film tells the story of “R” (Nicholas Hoult), a zombie who falls for the girlfriend (Teresa Palmer) of one of his victims. There’s a lot of potential here, starting with what must have been the sales pitch: John Malkovich, Zombie Hunter. The film, also starring Rob Corddry and Dave Franco, opens February 1. WARNING: If you hate spoilers, this trailer pretty much gives away the entire story arc: