Brad Pitt stars as a former United Nations investigator who races against time to stop a zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity in this 2013 apocalyptic action horror film. What is the title of this movie?

The film detailed in the trivia question is the 2013 apocalyptic action horror movie, World War Z (Review). In this thrilling picture, Brad Pitt takes on the role of Gerry Lane, a former United Nations investigator who finds himself in a desperate race against time to uncover the source of a rapidly spreading zombie pandemic. The outbreak threatens to dismantle armies and governments worldwide, pushing humanity to the brink of decimation. Lane's mission takes him across the globe, searching for any weakness in the infected or a potential cure to save his family and civilization. The movie draws its inspiration from Max Brooks' critically acclaimed 2006 novel, *World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War*, though the film takes a distinctly different narrative approach.

The production of World War Z was famously challenging, marked by extensive script rewrites and significant budget overruns, particularly concerning its entire third act. The original ending, which featured a large-scale battle in Russia, was ultimately discarded and reshot to provide a more contained and suspenseful conclusion. Despite these production hurdles, director Marc Forster aimed to create a realistic and epic depiction of a global zombie apocalypse. The film utilized thousands of extras and cutting-edge visual effects to portray massive, fast-moving swarms of zombies, a distinct departure from the slower undead often depicted in the genre.

Upon its release, World War Z became a commercial success, grossing over $540 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing zombie film at the time. Critics generally offered positive reviews, commending Pitt's performance and the film's intense, fast-paced thrills. However, some fans and critics noted its significant divergence from Brooks' original novel, which presented a collection of individual accounts of the zombie war rather than a single protagonist's journey. The film's success solidified the zombie genre's mainstream appeal and demonstrated Brad Pitt's capacity to lead a major global blockbuster.