World_War_Z_poster
Teaser poster for "World War Z." Courtesy/Wikipedia.org

After years in the making and that dubious bidding war between Leonardo DiCaprio's production company and Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment, the first official trailer for "World War Z," the film adaptation of the critically-acclaimed graphic novel series by Max Brooks, debuted on Thursday night. Watch the thrilling debut trailer starring Brad Pitt at the bottom of the page.

The screen rights to the "World War Z" graphic novel series, which was first published in September 2006 as a follow up to Brooks' 2003 book "The Zombie Survival Guide," were finally purchased by Brad Pitt's production company in 2007.

Marc Forster, perhaps best known for directing "Monster's Ball" and the relatively unsuccessful 2007 James Bond film "Quantum of Solace," was tapped to direct the adaptation of "World War Z," and J. Michael Straczynski, writer and creator of Babylon 5, was hired as the original screenwriter. In 2009, however, differences over the script led Forster to find a pair of new screenwriters to rewrite the screenplay, including Damon Lindelof of "Lost" and "Prometheus" fame, as well as Matthew Michael Carnahan, who wrote "Lions for Lambs" and "The Kingdom" in 2007, and "State of Play" in 2009.

While the "World War Z" graphic novels could easily be interpreted as social commentary on government ineffectiveness and the general short-sightedness of society, the first footage from the 2013 film adaptation looks more focused on the theme of primal fear and survival.

Brad Pitt, who plays UN employee Gerry Lane, sits in his car with his family until his sideview mirror is broken off by a speeding cyclist. After that, Lane witnesses a riot occurring in the parked cars behind him, and as a police officer orders for him to get back in his car, the officer is immediately hit by a speeding truck.

From that point on, the trailer shows pure pandemonium and chaos. Airplanes fly overhead as if it were a war scenario, and it is -- except, it's not very obvious who or what the threat is, exactly. That's revealed later in the trailer, as the number of dead bodies stack up: It's zombies. Hordes and hordes of zombies.

Watch the first trailer from "World War Z" below and let us know what you think in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

"World War Z" has a tentative US release date set for June 21, 2013.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HcwTxRuq-uk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Brad Pitt Video