Is no one safe? It seems even Brad Pitt can't protect himself from the infectious charms of zombie-dom. The actor was so enamored with the zombie apocalypse in Max Brooks's 2006 book "World War Z," he bought the film rights, produced, and starred in the leading role.

Inspired by "The Good War," an oral history of World War II by Studs Terkel, and by the zombie films of director George A. Romero, "World War Z" is a follow-up to Brooks's 2003 book, "The Zombie Survival Guide." The book is broken up into a collection of individual accounts in the form of first-person anecdotes. Brooks plays the role of an agent of the United Nations Postwar Commission, who published the report a decade after the 10-year Zombie War.

The United Nations left much of his research out of the official report, choosing to focus on facts and figures from the war rather than the individual stories that form the bulk of Brooks' novel. The interviews chart a decade-long war against zombies from numerous people of diverse nationalities. The personal accounts also describe the changing religious, geo-political, and environmental aftermath of the Zombie War.

Brooks designed "World War Z" to follow the "laws" set up in "The Zombie Survival Guide." The author has explained that the guide may exist in the world of the novel as a precursor to the Zombie War. He prides himself on the level of realism he's been able to bring to the zombie genre.

"Everything in World War Z (as in The Zombie Survival Guide) is based in reality... well, except the zombies. But seriously, everything else in the book is either taken from reality or 100% real. The technology, politics, economics, culture, military tactics... it was a LOT of homework," said Brooks in an interview with the Washington Post.

The first full-length trailer for the film recently leaked, and from the looks of it, Pitt's adaptation of "World War Z" falls somewhere between "Armageddon" and "I Am Legend." The best we can hope for is perhaps a slightly more nuanced take on societal collapse than Will Smith hitting golf balls in an abandoned city, or two hours of action sequences soundtracked by Aerosmith power ballads.

Filming was originally set to begin in early 2009, but was delayed while the script was completely re-written by Matthew Michael Carnahan to set the movie in the present, leaving behind much of the premise of the book to make it more of an action film.

"A high octane action-packed thrill-ride suspense cocktail with zombies," said the agent in the pitch meeting from hell.

Marc Forster ("Monster's Ball," "Finding Neverland") directed "World War Z." The film stars Pitt as Gerry Lane, a worker at the United Nations, as he searches the globe for information that can stop the zombie outbreak that is bringing down nations. Mireille Enos, Matthew Fox, Bryan Cranston, James Badge Dale, Lucy Aharish, Elyes Gabe, and David Morse also star.

"World War Z" hits theaters June 21, 2013.