Daniella Kertesz in World War ZImage via Paramount Pictures
Jodie Foster recently made headlines when she described F1as a movie made by artificial intelligence, but not in a “disparaging” way. Foster felt that the film’s storytelling was too mechanical, and presumably lacking soul. However, F1 emerged as the highest-grossing film of Brad Pitt‘s career with more than $630 million at the worldwide box office. It overtook a 2014 release that survived a tumultuous production that relied on decidedly human intervention. When the studio, Paramount, realized that the 2014 film’s third act wasn’t working, it decided to fund large-scale reshoots and hired A-list writers to come up with a fresh climax.
Pitt’s previous highest-grossing movie was initially green-lit with a reported budget of $125 million, which ended up ballooning to nearly $270 million because of the production difficulties. Based on a book by Max Brooks, the film was originally supposed to end with an epic action sequence set in Russia’s Red Square. But the rewrites and reshoots moved the climax to a medical research facility. Despite the setbacks, the film emerged as a major hit, grossing $540 million worldwide. Paramount even announced that it was moving ahead with a sequel that was being circled by none other than David Fincher. But the sequel hasn’t materialized yet, although it recently gained steam again.
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Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
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🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
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01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
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02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
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03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
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04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
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05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
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06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
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07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
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08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
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Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
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The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
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You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
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You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
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You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
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Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
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You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
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Here’s Where You Can Watch Brad Pitt’s Big-Budget Action Movie
We’re talking, of course, about World War Z, the epic zombie action movie starring Pitt. The film was directed by Marc Forster, with Damon Lindelof and Drew Goddard contributing to the rewrites. World War Z now holds a 67% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, “It’s uneven and diverges from the source book, but World War Z still brings smart, fast-moving thrills and a solid performance from Brad Pitt to the zombie genre.” The film remains a perennial favorite on the Paramount+ streaming service even more than a decade after its release, and it is now available to stream domestically on Prime Video as well. Meanwhile, Pitt will return later this year as the star of Heart of the Beast and The Adventures of Cliff Booth. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
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Release Date
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June 21, 2013
Runtime
116 minutes
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Director
Marc Forster
Writers
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Damon Lindelof, Drew Goddard, Matthew Michael Carnahan, J. Michael Straczynski, Max Brooks
Producers
Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Ian Bryce, Jeremy Kleiner
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