FAQ for
World War Z (2013) More at IMDbPro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for World War Z can be found here.

Yes. World War Z is also a 2006 novel by American author Max Brooks. The novel was loosely adapted for the movie by American screenwriters Matthew Michael Carnahan, Drew Goddard, Damon Lindelof, and J. Michael Straczynski. However, except for the zombies (and the movie changed even them, making them fast rather than slow and shambling like the book), there is little that the book and movie have in common.

A fast-moving, unknown virus whips around the world, turning people into bloodthirsty zombies and slamming the world to the brink of ruin. Retired United Nations agent Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) gets the job of piecing together what happened and where it started.

It's confirmed through several conversations in the film that the zombies are dead. The virus works by killing the person within a short range of time (we see 10 seconds, though other characters point out that some took days to turn), then reanimating the dead body. In addition the word "zombie" is used repeatedly in the film. The difference between the zombies in the film and in the book is their speed. In the film, the zombies lurch, run, climb, jump, etc. In the book, the zombies are the traditional shambling zombies.

In the film, nobody knows where the origin of the infectious outbreak started, so it remains a mystery to the audience. It is suggested that the origin was in India.