CHINA REJECTS WORLD WAR Z

In Max Brook’s bestselling zombie novel World War Z the undead infection originates in China, but we reported back in April that Paramount executives decided that a scene in which characters mention China as the geographic origin of the outbreak could be offensive to the heavy handed Chinese censors, so they cut it out of the picture.

Apparently that wasn’t enough.

TheWrap.com is reporting that China has rejected the final cut of Brad Pitt’s blockbuster because it’s not edited to their liking.

“The decision is potentially significant as the inability to screen in China would limit one of the year’s most expensive movies, reportedly $200 million, from having access to the world’s second biggest market. A release in China could contribute tens of millions of dollars in grosses to the film’s bottom line.”

Last year China passed Japan as the largest international source of box office revenue generating $2.7 billion, with some experts predicting that it will pass the United States in standalone box office revenue by 2020.

So the message to Hollywood is: Don’t piss off the Asian giant if you want to keep raking in the cash.