According to a report in the LA Times, the upcoming zombie apocalypse movie World War Z, starring Brad Pitt, may be the first one in a trilogy. Apparently, Paramount Pictures and director Marc Forster see World War Z as a trilogy, rather than a standalone flick. World War Z, with a reported budget of $150 million, is slated for release in December 2012.

Did any of us actually think this would happen? Ever since it was published, Max Brook’s faux-factual tableaux of interviews from people involved in the zombie apocalypse has been in demand for a movie makeover. Brad Pitt’s Plan B scooped up the rights and have been developing it since. Pitt is also rumoured to star in it. But this week we heard two startling facts regarding the projects budget and age rating.

Vulture reported that Paramount, who were aiming to finance the film, are now looking for a company to partner with. This is because of the film’s budget which is estimated at a massive $125 million. This would make World War Z the most expensive zombie film ever (most zombie films are made for less than 10% of that). Perhaps the high budget is due to the scale of the story, which covers dozens of individuals spread across the world, each recounting moments of their experience of the zombie apocalypse, from genesis to aftermath. As well as this, Paramount exec Adam Goodman also mentioned that the studio and director Marc Forster have agreed on making the film PG-13. A zombie film? Will it even have zombies at all?

This troublesome situation comes hot on the heels of similar unfortunate news. Guillermo Del Toro’s much anticipated adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness was (temporarily) dropped by Universal because the director insisted that the goreless flick keep its intended R-Rating. And so it fell apart, so it’s not surprising to see a studio insist on a rating that allows a larger audience to see a film, even if it may affect the movie’s quality.

Fans of World War Z, the phenomenal book by Max Brooks, will be sad to know that the highly anticipated film adaptation will have to wait longer.

This comes from Quantum of Solace director Marc Forster who said that the film’s script needs a lot of development and that it is “still far from realization”.

He is moving on to Disconnect, a film which will explore how humans deal with new technologies and the changes it causes to interpersonal relationships.

Variety reports that Quantum of Solace duo director Marc Forster and producer William Horberg are reteaming for technological thriller Disconnect.

In development at Nala Films, the movie will explore the mystery of how people live in today’s connected world where the technology, which is meant to bring them together, forces people further apart.

Andrew Stern penned the script. Darlene Camano Loquet, Emilio Diez Barroso, Brad Simpson and Forster himself are onboard as producers.

Just on the heels of Quantum of Solace’s wide release director Marc Forster is working with Paramount to direct World War Z, based on the Max Brooks (son of Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft) bestselling novel on a worldwide infestation of flesh-eating zombies.

Changelingscribe J. Michael Straczynski is writing the screenplay.

According to Variety, Brooks wrote a detailed tale in which a researcher for the U.N. Postwar Commission interviews survivors from countries all over the world, 10 years after the crisis, to gather a first-person post-mortem on a war that obliterated every country on the map.