'Star Wars The Last Jedi' Struggling in China Box Office
"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" is struggling in the Chinese market, the last major territory to release the film. Much like the previous Star Wars movies, the film's debut on Friday produced very disappointing results only earning $560,000 in midnight preview.
For years, China has been the saving grace for many big-budget Hollywood films. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be the case when it came to the second film of the new trilogy from the Disney-led Lucasfilm.
Data from China Box Office showed "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" earning $7 million (RMB50.1 million) by 7 p.m. local time. Including midnight screenings and previews, its running total was $28.0 million. This is a far cry from the "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" total of $124 million and not even close to the "Rogue One" total of $69.5 million suggesting that Chinese audience just aren't into the franchise.
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This shouldn't be too surprising though as the film received a mixed reception domestically and was heavily criticized not just by fans but also actor Mark Hamill. While a massive critical success, many fans weren't too happy about the film's turn of events as evidenced by the 50 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The fact that the previous six films didn't get theatrical releases in China means that "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is essentially the first film of the franchise, as far as Chinese audiences are concerned that is. Unlike in North America, the franchise had no existing fanbase in the country, a handicap Disney hoped to compensate for by airing the first six "Star Wars" films in the Shanghai Film Festival two years ago.
But while the Chinese premiere leaves a lot to be desired, "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" is still a massive success for Disney having taken the No. 1 spot for highest-grossing film of 2017 and has already passed $1 billion in worldwide sales.
This is great news for the company which is still in the process of recouping its $4 billion investment in Lucasfilm. Hopefully, its next "Star Wars" films to be released receive a more positive feedback not just from the Chinese, but also domestic audiences.
