Brad Pitt battles zombies in “World War Z”

Culture Desk— Zombies are hot and Hollywood studios never missing an opportunity to ride a popular trend, with Brad Pitt the latest to take a shot at the genre with “World War Z,” an apocalyptic horror film.

The film, based on the novel by Max Brooks, is a mix of virus story, like Steven Soderbergh’s “Contagion,” and classic zombie fare, giving audiences a chance to watch a world war against humans turned into the living dead by a microorganism of unknown origin.

The world is threatened and it is up to Gerry Lane (Pitt), a former U.N. official with Nobel-level scientific knowledge, to save humanity.

Director Marc Forster, whose work includes “Monster’s Ball,” “Stranger than Fiction” and the James Bond flick “Quantum of Solace,” tosses aside any pretensions of artistic creation and focuses on generating a big box office take.

The $190 million film mixes the war against the zombies with the search for a cure for the illness.

Pitt tavels the world, fighting the zombies instead of seeking a cure for the virus.

The movie is doing well at the box office in the countries where it has opened.