MUMBAI: Paramount Pictures reports that World War Z had passed the $500 million worldwide gross mark, surpassing Troy‘s $497.3 million to become Brad Pitt‘s highest grossing film ever. One could argue that WWZ received the benefit of a higher ticket price particularly because of its 3D numbers. But considering how badly maligned this film was in the weeks before it bowed, hitting the half billion dollar plateau seems something to brag about, even for a movie that cost in the $220 million range.

According to Paramount (which co-financed with Skydance), WWZ has set several records for Pitt, whose Plan B produced. It set a personal best with a $66 million opening on 21 June, and a total of $197.4 million in US, both of which exceeded Mr. & Mrs. Smith‘s total domestic gross of $186.3 million and $50.3 million opening weekend. The film has earned $305.2 million at the international box office, to date.

This pales in comparison to the numbers put up by Johnny Depp and his Alice in Wonderland and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises, but Pitt has done a lot of cool movies that were never meant to be blockbusters, and this was his most mainstream film since Troy and Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Passing the half billion dollar mark begs the question of whether Pitt returns for an encore.