As we know, the World War Z book and movie share two things in common: 1) Their name, and 2) the fact they were made by carbon-based lifeforms. Yet somehow, after author Max Brooks finally saw the movie "adaptation" of his book, he was surprised as anyone when he discovered he somehow enjoyed it.
Via USA Today:
"I was expecting to hate, it and I wanted to hate it because it was so different from my book, and yet the fact that it was so different from my book made it easier to watch because I didn't watch my characters and my story get mangled," Brooks says. "So I was just watching somebody else's zombie movie, which was fun and intense."
Many writers dread adaptations despite the attention and additional earnings that may come. "They watch their characters do things they would never do and say things they would never say," Brooks says. "It's infuriating. I never had a 'Gerry Lane-wouldn't-say-that moment because I didn't invent Gerry Lane (the film's main character played by Brad Pitt). In fact, the only character they kept from my book, Jurgen Warmbrunn, the Israeli intelligence analyst, he was actually pretty spot on."
Huh! And now there's a third thing the movie has in common with the book, too!