Despite a disappointing domestic performance, Warcraft took over China, achieving the weekend box-office record.
Warcraft has proven itself to be quite the cinematic conundrum. The heavily-heralded adaptation of the video game series phenomenon was domestically embarrassed, grossing a paltry $24.4 million this past weekend in a not-even-close second place bow to horror sequel The Conjuring 2, which grossed $40.3 million. Perplexingly enough, while one might think studio Legendary and director Duncan Jones might be down in the doldrums, they actually have every reason to pop open the bubbly, seeing as the film spectacularly smashed record in China!
In what could be a bellwether moment for Western imports in the Chinese film market, Warcraft now stands as the largest ever debut for a foreign film in the history of China, grossing $156 million in its five-day total. In a period of time boosted by China’s Dragon Boat Festival holiday on June 9, Warcraft practically covered its massive $160 million budget, giving the film a worldwide gross of $286.1 million in just under a week. It’s one hell of a tally for an underperforming film that was brutalized by critics.
To put the shocking and innately unique Chinese success of Warcraft into perspective, its immense five-day accrual of $156 million tops previous weekend record holder in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron ($155.7 million) and other recent mega-movies like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($95.8 million) and even Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($125.4 million). Indeed, while Warcraft's release was uneventful in North America, even to legions of butt-numbed fans who have been dedicated to the video game franchise for over decade, something about its sprawling, fantastical nature resonated highly with Chinese moviegoers.
With recent news that veteran action/suspense helmer Renny Harlin is jumping over to an ambitious Alibaba-produced fantasy epic based on the Chinese video game series Legend of the Ancient Sword, the success of Warcraft could solidify what already seems to be a growing trend as Hollywood looks to market its big-budgeted CGI epics toward the East.
Below is the original story as it appeared on 6/8/16:
Warcraft might still be a few days away from its U.S. release, but the sprawling cinematic realization of the monolithic video game franchise is apparently taking over the land of China. Moreover, the film has already achieved a notable accolade when it comes to the annals of the burgeoning box-office import business that will even see it best a major Marvel movie.
While Warcraft has its share of critical detractors, compounding the perpetually dubious status of video game movies, it appears that the timing of its Chinese release has fortuitously yielded gifts. According to Deadline, upon Warcraft's Tuesday night 10 p.m. local time release, the film ran away with the box-office numbers faster than Leeroy Jenkins’s notoriously quixotic dash into a room full of dangerous creatures. The movie grossed an impressive $46 million (302 million renminbi), demolishing a non-weekend first-day box-office record in China previously held by last year’s Marvel mega-movie Avengers: Age of Ultron($28.3 million, 185.86 million rmb).
The remarkable numbers don’t stop there. Warcraft now stands as China’s advance ticket sales king with $8.2 million (53.8 million rmb). Additionally, midnight Warcraft screenings that kicked off the Tuesday debut generated $7.6 million (52.7 million rmb), placing it just within an arm’s reach of what last year’s global juggernaut movie event in Furious 7 achieved with its $7.9 million (52.47 million rmb) record-smashing midnight mania. However, Warcraft does have Vin Diesel and the gang beat in terms of the IMAX format in its midnight screenings, generating a $5.3 million (35 million rmb) that pulled ahead of the $4.7 million (31 million rmb) of Furious.
Accordingly, the film’s ensuing five-day forecast in China is equally auspicious, targeting a range of $122 million to $152 million or 800 million rmb to 1 billion rmb. These number are taking into account the fact that June 9 is the date of this year’s observed Dragon Boat Festival holiday, leaving younger deep-pocketed demographics with free time. Yet, the most promising hook on which Warcraft can hang its hat comes in the form of its virtual ubiquity, reportedly playing on a record 67.5% of movie screens in the typically tight-kept China. Thus, as advance reviews in the U.S. are painting a rather disjointed picture of the production, raw, demonstrable numbers have, nevertheless, already declared Warcraft a huge hit.
While Warcraft might have a cloud(song) of criticism hanging over it build, these earliest of performance numbers in China could also indicate an auspicious North American run, especially as it fields some weakened competition with momentum-spent tent-pole pictures like X-Men: Apocalypse and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, along with “less eventful” debuting film sequels such as Now You See Me 2 and The Conjuring 2.
Moviegoers in the U.S. will have their opportunity to see if the Chinese are onto something when Warcraft at theaters on June 10 (this Friday).
