THE man who brought zombies, Brad Pitt and millions of pounds of
Hollywood cash to Glasgow with his World War Z novel wants to bring
it all back again – this time at a star-studded Scottish
premiere.
Author Max Brooks, whose best-selling book provided the inspiration
for the movie, said both he and the crew fell in love with Scotland
during the month-long shoot.
And he admits he would jump at the chance to come back and launch
the movie in the city that made them feel so welcome – even if it
was dressed up to look like Philadelphia.
“I would love to take my family back to Glasgow for a World War Z
screening,” he said.
“That would be amazing.
“Glasgow made us feel so welcome, everyone was so nice to us and
genuinely excited.
“I said to the producer, ‘We have got to come back here and have a
special screening, everyone would be treated like kings.’
“What do I know? I’m just the guy who wrote the book but it was an
amazing experience to be in Glasgow watching the film being
made.”
Even more amazing was the £3.3million the film has injected into
the economy.
Brooks said the production was originally earmarked for
Philadelphia, where the story is set, but wrangles over spending
meant the crew ended up in Glasgow.
“It’s wonderful that the film gave people jobs and pumped money
into the economy,” he says.
“How ironic that a movie about a disaster actually helped a
city.”
The LA-based author was speaking during the launch of another book
of World War Z-style zombie stories called Closure, Limited.
Max’s novel, a follow-up to one of his first efforts, The Zombie
Survival Guide, captured the imagination of the world – and Brad
Pitt – who bought the rights.
Last August, Glasgow city centre and various other locations around
central Scotland were decked out with US street signs and police
cars to provide the backdrop for Pitt’s summer adventure, which
began when both he and Angelina Jolie rolled into town on a
commandeered Virgin train from London.
Other locations in Malta, Budapest and London were all used but Max
said the local reaction made Glasgow their favourite
destination.
He said: “In Los Angeles, everyone is very jaded towards Hollywood,
about as jaded as the Welsh would be about mining coal. What I
loved about Scotland was the genuine excitement and the honour they
felt that Brad Pitt was coming to their town and turning it into a
sensation.
“It was genuine and heartfelt, there was no cynicism.
“I did a book signing at Forbidden Planet and people stood out in
the rain for an hour just to see me.
“I wanted to run out and say, ‘It’s just me, you can all go
home.’”
Rain appears to have played a regular role in Max’s Glasgow story,
even down to his first meeting with leading man Pitt.
He said: “My first encounter on set was in the rain when this very
tall man held an umbrella over my wife and I. It turned out to be
Brad Pitt.
“He was fantastic and he really loved the excitement among the
people of Glasgow.”
With the film in the can and a new chapter starting in the form of
his latest book, will there ever be a return to World War Z for
Max?
“I have more zombie stories to tell,” he said. “But I’m never going
to write another World War Z book.
“I’m never going to top World War Z, so as far as I’m concerned,
the war is over.”
Max, who is the son of legendary comedy director Mel Brooks and
actress Anne Bancroft, said his dad’s Hollywood pedigree helped him
make the transition to the big screen during the production of the
blockbuster film.
He explained: “One of the things that I learned from my dad is that
in the film business if you don’t have control, just walk away.
Don’t let it make you crazy.”
But he added that despite the helping hand and fatherly advice,
they couldn’t be more different in real life.
He said: “People expect me to be funny like my dad and maybe
melodramatic like my mother.
“They ask me a lot about my dad but we are two very different
animals. I never felt any pressure to compete with him because it
was plainly obvious how different we were.
“There was a natural expectation that I would follow in his
footsteps and that initially hurt my work.
“When Zombie Survival Guide came out, a lot of people put it in the
humour section and the reviews were horrific because it wasn’t
funny. But it wasn’t supposed to be funny. Even he didn’t get
it.
“He said, ‘You have to cut it down and get to the jokes
quicker’.
“I said, ‘Dad, it’s a real zombie survival guide book, there are no
jokes. I’m really that weird.’
“I think they should put that on my gravestone: ‘Yes, I’m really
that weird.’”
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