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It looks as though December 21st, 2012 will in fact be the end of days鈥� that we鈥檒l have to spend waiting to see some potentially cool literary adaptations and a new movie.

Paramount has slated its pricy adaptation of for theatrical release on December 21st of next year. Director Marc Forster鈥檚 cinematic take on 鈥� post-zombpocalyptic novel is being headlined by 鈥� with rounding out the supporting cast.

will open directly against 鈥檚 3D adaptation of the acclaimed novel and Disney鈥檚 movie, which will star Depp as Tonto. Those three titles will arrive a week after Peter Jackson鈥檚 finally hits theaters, and four days before 鈥檚 is unleashed. Suffice it to say, cinemaphiles of all shades are probably going to be spending a lot of time at the theater during the holidays next year.

For those not familiar with Brooks鈥� original World War Z novel, here is an official synopsis:

We survived the zombie apocalypse, but how many of us are still haunted by that terrible time? We have (temporarily?) defeated the living dead, but at what cost? Told in the haunting and riveting voices of the men and women who witnessed the horror firsthand, 鈥榃orld War Z鈥� is the only record of the plague years.

Pitt will be starring in the World War Z adaptation as Gerry Lane, a U.N. employee who interviews and records the thoughts of said survivors from the war between humans and zombies.

While Forster鈥檚 World War Z movie has several things working in its favor (including respectable source material and solid production values) there鈥檚 been reason for fans to feel a bit uncomfortable about the final product. Some people just aren鈥檛 crazy about the idea of a star like Pitt in the lead 鈥� or having Forster direct, since action-oriented features aren鈥檛 really his forte 鈥� but the biggest issue raised so far has to do with Paramount鈥檚 plans for World War Z to be Rated PG-13. That鈥檚 frustrating news for people hoping to see a visceral and unfiltered representation of the zombie violence described in Brooks鈥� novel.

However, in the hands of a good filmmaker like Forster, less can be more when it comes to on-screen violence. Plus, World War Z is really more about how the human population responds to a global emergency on a political, social, and personal level 鈥� and less about gruesome zombie-related carnage. While there will undoubtedly be a healthy dose of war violence and action in the film, it should be more the sort of character-driven piece that Pitt generally does pretty well in (see: 鈥�).

Judging by early , the film is also going for more of an unpolished look than your average big-budget tentpole pic. The end result should be a movie that actually feels more authentic (its inclusion of undead monsters aside) and offers some realism, for those not in the mood for an epic fantasy adventure (The Hobbit) or a whimsical western () next winter.

To reiterate: World War Z will open in U.S. theaters on December 21st, 2012.

Source: Paramount

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Sandy Schaefer blogs at .

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