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During Lucasfilm ’s Disney era , the revampedStar Warsfilm franchise has ascertain tremendous box billet succeeder , but the market of China constantly eludes them . In the twenty-first century , the Middle Kingdom has become the secondly - largest movie market in the reality , tail only the United States . As a result , studios have view as the country an country of grandness , since landing a strike in China can be the remainder between flop and being moderately profitable ( just askPacific Rim ) . And for those surefire blockbusters like the Marvel Cinematic Universe , a lucrative test in China can just pad the bottom line and get even more profits . As evidence byAvengers : Infinity Warscoring a $ 200 million Taiwanese chess opening weekend , that marketplace is still a worthful resource .
Curiously , Marvel ’s Mouse House chum Lucasfilm has struggle mightily since the series return in 2015 withThe Force Awakens . Each new installation has gross more and more less in China . Rogue Oneearned just $ 69.4 million of its $ 1 billion sum there , whileThe Last Jediflamed out in two weeks time . This month’sSolo : A Star Wars Story , which is alreadyhaving a harsh go at it domestically , came up with just $ 3 million in its opening day . So what gives ? We endeavor to unpack whyStar Warscan’t seem to make money in China .
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The simple account is that theStar Warsbrand is not as relevant in China as it is in other places around the humans . When the galaxy far , far out first became a ethnical phenomenon in 1977 , the Chinese flick grocery was not a major player in the industriousness . In fact , the original trilogy was never theatrically released in China . The firstStar Warsmovie to act in the country wasThe Phantom Menace , which made a paltry $ 4.1 million . The subsequent prequels did a niggling upright ( Attack of the Clones,$5.4 million;Revenge of the Sith$9.1 million ) , but neither of those numbers are all that optic - catching . Chinese moviegoers do not have the attachment to the franchise to rightfully care about a new installment when it debut . But since so many other tentpoles do well there , why isStar Warsthe outlier ?
It may boil down to how the new flick have been market . There ’s no deny the Disney era film lean heavily on nostalgia and familiar factor during promotion . The money shooting of theForce Awakenstrailer was Han telling Chewie they were home . Rogue Onerevolves around the Death Star plan . The Last Jediplaces an onus on Luke Skywalker . AndSolois all about Han Solo ’s juvenility . WhileEpisode VIIwas designed as a balmy reboot and the anthology movie are considered standalone stories , they ’re still dependent on anterior noesis to fully appreciate . Since the original trilogy bypass China whole , they miss the connexion to make an impact . PerhapsRian Johnson ’s novel trilogyand theDavid Benioff / D.B. Weiss serieswill try out to be more approachable entry breaker point since they’reentirely disjoined from the Skywalker saga .
To their credit , Lucasfilm has tried to boostStar warfare ' appealingness in China . The castings of Donnie Yen and Wen Jiang inRogue Onewere seen in some circles as an attempt to attract Chinese viewers , and theycompletely removedStar WarsfromSolo’sChinese statute title . Neither of those stratagem paid off , and it ’s worth wondering if Lucasfilm should even bother with Chinese releases in the future . Of course , every footling bit helps , butStar Wars’Chinese totals are barely a blip on the radar(LastJedigoes from $ 1.3 billion to $ 1.2 billion when China ’s taken out).The studio could probably spare a little in distribution costs by skipping China completely . It ’s possible for genre pictures to be massive hits without Taiwanese ticket sales ( see : Deadpool ) , so they ’re not an absolute necessity .
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