World War Z: Chapter 2 Trailer #3 "Second Chance" Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos | Zombie Movie(Fan Made)

When it comes to business outside the United States, China is the most crucial country to tap into if you want to maximize your box office profits. And that was also going to be a problem as the mercurial politics of the massive Asian country had put a ban on the release of any movies that had anything to do with images of zombies or ghosts, per the instructions of the rigid Chinese regulations on foreign films entering the country. Because of some shadowy Communist party censorship guidelines that prohibit “promoting cults or superstition,” foreign films featuring zombies, vampires, werewolves, mummies, and ghosts" have routinely been excluded from Chinese theaters by government censors. On average, only about 35 foreign films a year are even allowed into the country at all. Past casualties of this strict regulation include 2016 movies like Ghostbusters and the South Korean movie Train to Busan (which still made a bundle as a downloadable offering). It was yet another setback to a sequel that was looking less and less likely to ever get made.

Budgetary Concerns from Paramount

As if World War Z 2 didn't have enough working against it already, the ever-lurking issue of finances and balancing the books began to emerge. Paramount was concerned that the film was going to be too expensive to make. Although it was thought that the film would come in at a price tag of less than the $190 million budget for the first film, with plans to shoot in five different countries, along with a six-week stint in the popular United States filming locations in Georgia, it apparently wasn't low enough for the studio. Fincher would not come off of his number and in February 2019, Paramount executives decided to part ways with the director over the budget dispute. It turns out that Paramount was getting a little nervous about footing a bill at Fincher's number of close to $200 million considering that the film would have an "R" rating and be subject to being banned in China over their unusually strict regulations regarding zombie films.