The primary full-scale set, a secret scientific laboratory, was built in the huge pavilions of the VILLS factory. With a total area of just under 38,000 square feet, it was the largest set built in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The decision to split film in two parts was panned by Russian critics as "an attempt to sell one movie for the price of two" and caused an uproar among the audience. As a result Mikhail Khleborodov promised to release an initial single-film "director's cut" on DVD.
Director Mikhail Khleborodov confirmed that the gunfighting style used by future marines is an "improved" version of Gan Kata - a futuristic martial art invented by Kurt Wimmer for Equilibrium (2002) and Ultraviolet (2006)
When the production run over budget producers Yusup Bakhshiev and Viktor Taknov decided to spit a already finished 2-hours long film in half to create two stand-alone features. Since there was no time to shoot any additional material, previously scrapped dialogs and sequences were brought back from cutting-room floor to create two full-length films. They were titled 'Paragraf 78. Punkt 1' and 'Paragraf 78. Punkt 2' respectively and released in cinemas within a month from each other.
Film's promotional blog written by producer Yusup Bakhshiev had to be shut down after the discussion between Bakshiev and discontented moviegoers got out of control.