He's going to war. Z war! Also today: that Barefoot Bandit kid gets his own feature film written by a hottie boombalottie, old grampa Disney needs some help from its hip and popular grandkid, and some Dragon Tattoo casting news.

Remember the Barefoot Bandit, America's favorite teen thief who was finally caught earlier this month? Well David Gordon Green — the erratic filmmaker behind indie poems like All the Real Girls and George Washington and mainstream weed comedies like Pineapple Express and the upcoming Your Highness — has signed on to direct a movie based on the kid's crime saga, to be written by dreamboat screenplay machine Dustin Lance Black. Only people with three names can work on this project, sorry two-namers. That's just how it is. The Barefoot Bandit's name? Colton Harris-Moore. See? [Variety]

Brad Pitt is confirmed as the star of the movie adaptation of Max Brooks' brilliant zombie book World War Z. Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace) will direct. This is very exciting. Hopefully they won't botch it. It's hard to imagine it becoming a movie given that there are so many different narratives, but I'm eager to see them try. Between this and The Walking Dead show, it's a great time to be a zombie lover. And a terrible time to be someone who is mortally terrified of zombies. Oddly, I am both! I guess I'll just have to cut myself in half. Thanks a lot, Gemini sign. [MTV]

Poor, weary Disney, suffering from a summer of Prince of Persia: Sands of Gyllenhaal disappointments and Sorcerer's Apprenctice outright failures, has gone travelin' up to Emeryville to visit with Pixar to get some help on their new Muppets movie. The film's star and writer Jason Segel made the trek with some Disney suits to meet with Brad Bird, John Lasseter, Pete Docter, and co. to get some pointers on how to proceed with the puppet picture. Though they did get some helpful advice while there, they of course had to have their memories wiped before they left the headquarters, as no one can tell the outside world what lies within the compound, lest they reveal what secret something has given the studio such immeasurable and unbroken success over the years. Some say it is a strange, pulsating gelatinous substance in a large container in the middle of a stark white room that the PIxar masters worship. Others claim that there is a Toy Story poster hidden in a closet somewhere, slowly aging, while the rest of Pixar remains fresh and new. Others claim that they just stick to a pretty strict rubric of story and artistry first, believing that success will follow if the product is genuinely smart and good. That last theory is absolutely the most outlandish. [THR]

Oh good, Brett Ratner is headed back to television. He is executive producing a show called Chaos, about the feeling of watching Rush Hour 3 and realizing your life is spinning out of control. Well, it's either about that or it's about CIA agents. Whichever. The other executive producer, the guy who's really going to be in charge, is some dude from Desperate Housewives. So they'll be quirky cutesy espionage thrills. Freddy Rodriguez from Six Feet Under is one of the leads. The show will be on CBS. Bob in Accounts is going to love this show and talk about it sometimes in the break room. Beware. [EW]

This My Idiot Brother movie is going to have quite the cast. Already on board are Paul Rudd (the idiot), Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer, Elizabeth Banks (the sisters), Rashida Jones (the girlfriend), and Adam Scott (the don't know). Now Kathryn Hahn (the ex-girlfriend), Shirley Knight (the mom), and Hugh Dancy (the pretentious painter) have joined the ensemble. It will be interesting to see Hugh Dancy in a straight-up comedy. I mean it's interesting to see Hugh Dancy in anything. It doesn't have to be straight-up. Or straight, even. Hugh Dancy doesn't have to be straight. Do you hear me, Hugh? You don't have to be. Like, at all. [THR]

All right, well, scratch one off the list. Carey Mulligan is officially out of the running to play Lisbeth Salander in the American movie version (thus the one true version) of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. So, that's that. Still on the short list are Mia Wasikowska, Rooney Mara, and Ellen Page. Personally, I think this young lady would be perfect. What about you? [EW]