‘World War Z’ Changed Its Script to Avoid Pissing Off the Chinese

By now you probably know that World War Z will be drastically different from the book on which it's based. And while it's not uncommon for film adaptations to change things up in order to make a project more marketable, usually that marketability is directed toward the viewing audience as opposed to a repressive foreign government.

Those who have read the book will remember that the zombie outbreak begins in the People's Republic of China, and the communist authorities do their best to cover it up, wasting valuable time in the process. Well, that scenario probably wouldn't play well with actual Chinese government censors. So rather than risk losing out on the valuable Chinese market, producers scrubbed the plot line from the film.

At the end of the day, film making is a business. And given the cost of this project (over $200 million), this film can't afford to lose the Chinese audience. But I can't help but wonder how the film would have dealt with similar pressure from the U.S. government.