World War Z becomes Brad Pitt's highest-grossing movie

Of all the flops of 2013's disastrous summer at the cinema, many thought 'World War Z' was set to be the biggest of all, even before it was released.

But while Will Smith and Johnny Depp suffered embarrassing bloody noses with 'After Earth' and 'The Lone Ranger', Brad Pitt has come up smelling of roses.

The Marc Foster-directed zombie actioner has now grossed $502.6 million worldwide, making it the most profitable movie he's ever been in.

[Brad Pitt hints at World War Z trilogy]

Prior to this, swords-and-sandals epic 'Troy' was his biggest hit, with a gross of $497 million.

Pitt also produced the film, with his company Plan B, a fact which must be particularly satisfying considering its rocky road to the big screen.

The film was re-written, re-shot and re-budgeted, with rumours from the set painting a rather bleak future for the film about a rather bleak future.

[Brad Pitt's World War Z body double got paid £4.44 an hour]

But now it appears that Mr Pitt has very much had the last laugh, with a tireless marketing campaign which saw him jetting around the world seeming to have done the trick.

Though whether he has the stomach for a sequel remains to be seen...