The Film Stage is reporting that actor James Badge Dale (The Pacific) is in talks to star in the upcoming adaptation of Max Brooks‘s novel World War Z. Dale is apparently up for the part of a U.S. soldier “who tries to alert authorities that the zombie threat is real.”
The film already has Brad Pitt attached to star as a U.N. employee named Gerry Lane “who has to try and stop a global zombie pandemic.” It also stars Mireille Enos (Big Love, The Killing) as Gerry’s wife and Swedish actress Alicia Vikander.
The adaptation is being directed by Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland) from a screenplay by J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5). The story is told through a series of interviews that take place after the events described by the characters.
World War Z is scheduled to start shooting within the next month with an expected summer 2012 release date.
