Last Summer, Brad Pitt (The Tree of Life, Cogan’s Trade) signed on for the lead role in the Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace) directed big-screen adaptation of Max Brooks‘ novel, World War Z for Paramount Pictures. The novel is billed as the oral history of the zombie war which chronicles a worldwide zombie outbreak through the first-hand accounts of survivors.

Now, Variety reports that James Badge Dale (The Pacific, The Departed) has been cast in the film as an American soldier who attempts to alert government officials to the forthcoming, global zombie threat.

World War Z is slated to hit theaters in 2014.