Jones’ Warcraft tops China’s box office with $157-million debut

Hong Kong, June 13: “Warcraft,” the movie directed by David Bowie’s son Duncan Jones, topped China’ s box office during its opening week as it headed towards becoming the highest-grossing Hollywood film in the country since “Furious 7.”

Backed by the Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin’s Legendary Entertainment and gaming company Tencent Holdings, the film took in 1.03 billion yuan ($157 million) in ticket sales since its debut on Wednesday, according to industry-data provider Entgroup.

“Warcraft” generated this year’s biggest openingday ticket sales in China, surpassing those of “The Mermaid,” the country’s highest-grossing movie, including local and Hollywood films.

The movie’s success — it’s already surpassed what the last “Star Wars” feature made in China — highlights the rewards Hollywood companies can reap by catering to Chinese tastes. “Warcraft,” based on Activision Blizzard’s “World of Warcraft” game, may generate as much as 2 billion yuan in China, according to Nomura Holdings, which would make it China’s second-highest-grossing movie this year.

By contrast, “Warcraft” wasn’t even the top movie over the weekend in its debut in the US and Canada, where it generated $24.4 million over the weekend. The film, which cost $160 million to make and also backed by Comcast Corp’s Universal Pictures, will probably earn $45 million in total in US and Canadian theaters, according to BoxOfficePro.com.

“The Conjuring 2,” a new horror flick from Warner Bros, led the box office over weekend in the US and Canada with sales of $40.4 million, according to researcher ComScore.