Chinese Luke warm on Jedi
Walt Disney's Star Wars:
The Last Jedi brought in an estimated US$28.7 million ($40m) in its opening weekend in China, coming in below its two predecessors in the world’s fastest-growing market. That brings the global haul for The
Last Jedi to US$1.21 billion, the Burbank, California-based company said on Sunday. It makes the film a success even if it doesn’t reach the heights of 2015’s The Force Awakens, which rang up US$2.07b worldwide.
Disney has been trying to build an audience for Star Wars in China, where moviegoers didn’t grow up with the original trilogy, and by that measure the new film fell short. The
Force Awakens brought in US$52.3m when it opened there.
The last Star Wars movie to open in China, Rogue One, generated US$30m in its opening, outside the top 100 movie debuts in the region, according to Box Office Mojo. The
Force Awakens was the 41st. Universal Pictures’ The Fate of the Furious holds the record for the biggest debut weekend in China with US$185m.
Disney has had more success with its Marvel comic-book movies in China, where universally understood action scenes and simpler story lines tend to translate better, according to James Li, co-founder of the Beijingbased consulting firm Fanink Research. The Avengers: Age of Ultron had the third-biggest debut on record.
“Word of mouth is dismal and worse than the previous films,” Jonathan Papish, an analyst at China Film Insider, a website that reports on the industry, tweeted after Thursday night previews from China showed The Last Jedi lagging predecessors. The Last Jedi was challenged for the top spot by Chinese film The ExFile: The Return of the Exes, the third instalment in a hugely popular romantic comedy series about a group of bachelors, in its second weekend in theatres. Disney shares declined less than 1 per cent to US$111.40 in early trading in New York. The stock had gained 3.9 per cent through the 12 months ended January 5. The stock price was US$110.17 at 10:10am.
In the US, meanwhile, audiences are beginning to move on from Star Wars — at least until Disney unleashes
Solo: A Star Wars Story in May. The top film in North America was Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Sony Pictures’ action-comedy starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, with US$36m. The Last Jedi placed third, with $23.6m. Jumanji had been projected to reap $32m, according to BoxOfficePro.com. The surprise hit had brought in more than US$350m worldwide before the weekend, holding its own in the shadow of Star Wars. Sony is already considering a sequel.
The weekend's only major new release, Universal Pictures' horror sequel Insidious: The Last Key, placed second with US$29.3m. BoxOfficePro had forecast US$16.8m.
Disney has been trying to build an audience for Star Wars in China.