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'Prometheus' scribe Damon Lindelof to re-write troubled zombie movie 'World War Z'

The screenwriter brought in to re-work the script for the Ridley Scott sci-fi thriller "Prometheus" will breathe new life into the troubled production of the zombie thriller "World War Z."

According to TheHollywoodReporter.com, Damon Lindelof has been hired by Paramount Pictures to help with a re-write of the film. THR said that Lindelof will focus specifically on the third act.

The film, which stars Brad Pitt as a UN worker racing to stop a worldwide zombie pandemic, had been previously slated for a December 2012 release, but has since had its release date pushed back to June 21, 2013. In its exclusive report, THR said the production will try to begin reshoots in September or October.

The film, based on Max Brooks' hit 2006 novel of the same name, is being directed by Marc Forster ("Finding Neverland," "Quantum of Solace"). Pitt's co-stars in the film include Mireille Enos ("The Killing"), James Badge Dale ("The Departed") and Anthony Mackie ("The Hurt Locker").

Lindelof, who co-created "Lost" with writer-director J.J. Abrams, is no stranger to doing re-writes on high-profile film projects.

For "Prometheus," which opens in theaters Friday, Lindelof played a pivotal role in the film's evolution from an "Alien" prequel into its own mythology -- yet he kept strands of "Alien" DNA within the storyline.

"My assessment of the 'Prometheus' script was, 'I don't think the movie really needs much of this 'Alien' stuff," Lindelof told me in a recent interview. "I felt like there was an expectation to see something relating to it. We couldn't give the people nothing."

As a result, "Prometheus" takes place in the same universe as "Alien" and effectively, it spawns two mythologies.

"Hopefully, if we did our jobs right, 'Prometheus' is going to have two children: One of those children is going to grow up to be 'Alien,' and the other child is going to grow up to be an entirely different kid with a big question mark over its head in terms of where it could lead us," Lindelof explained to me. "That would be a fairly new, inventive and original way of taking on what is traditionally what is called a 'prequel.'"