World War ZIt appears that the zombie pandemic plaguing armies of the world will meet its match on December 21st of next year. That's the day Paramount will unleash World War Z on theaters across the country.

The film, which stars Brad Pitt in the leading role, is adapted from Max Brooks' post apocalyptic horror novel called World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War and is about a United Nations employee, Gerry Lane (Pitt) who travels the globe in a race against time to stop a worldwide zombie invasion that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate all of humanity itself. World War Z will be directed by Marc Forster who last plied his craft on the unfinished Machine Gun Preacher and 2008's Quantum of Solace. World War Z will also star Mireille Enos and James Badge Dale after Matthew Fox and Ed Harris dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.

Paramount was said to have secured the screen rights in a high six-figure deal in which the film company went up against Warner Bros. and Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way in a bidding war. Glad to see them spend a little money to feed an author and put a great original story on the path to Hollywood production. But our enthusiasm takes a hit every time we're reminded that Paramount has decided to give the production a PG-13 rating. A zombie movie with a PG-13 rating? Really?

Behind-the-scenes talent includes two-time Academy Award-winning cinematographer Robert Richardson (The Aviator; JFK), production designer Nigel Phelps (Transformers: Dark of the Moon; Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen), costume designer Mayes C. Rubeo (Avatar) and Academy Award-nominated editor Matt Chessè (Finding Neverland).

The week of December 21st and the surrounding days next year promise to be a cinephile's delight as that's also the week we'll see Ang Lee's adaptation of the novel, Life of Pi as well as Disney's Lone Ranger movie that stars Johnny Depp as the masked one's sidekick, Tonto. The week before these heavyweights hit theaters will see the release of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained. Movie lover's, gird your loins! It's about to get good.

Following are a few shots of Brad Pitt working on the set of World War Z:

World War Z Brad Pitt

World War Z Brad Pitt

World War Z Brad Pitt