'Warcraft' phenomenal in China, cold in US
- By Zhang Rui
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E-mail China.org.cn, June 12, 2016
The fantasy action film "Warcraft" continues to break a series of Chinese box office records after a stunning opening weekend but it performed awkwardly in North America.
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Fans pack a Wanda theater for the "Warcraft" premiere in Beijing on June 8, 2016. [Photo/ China.org.cn] |
The film took in 49.72 million yuan (US$7.56 million) on Tuesday, according to China's official box office monitor department, which made it the No. 2 top grossing film in terms of midnight opening figures just behind "Furious 7," which grossed 52.47 million yuan (US$7.98 million) on a Saturday night.
"Warcraft" raked in 301 million yuan (US$45.9 million) on its opening day, and 298 million yuan (US$45.4 million) on its second day. It has become the fastest film to reach the 800 million yuan mark in China after it took in another 215 million yuan (US$32.78 million) on its third day. By Monday, it will pass the 1 billion yuan (US$152.5 million) mark.
The film also broke the opening day record in China for IMAX theaters, taking a haul of 35 million yuan (US$5.33 million).
Though it faced tough competition from "X-Men: Apocalypse," which opened on June 3 and has grossed 626 million yuan (US$95.46 million) so far, "Warcraft" was the biggest winner during the Dragon Boat Festival, a three-day holiday from June 9 to 11, taking over 77 percent of all box office revenues. During the same period last year, the Chinese box office raked in 600 million yuan (US$91.3 million) for all films screened, but this year's statistics were raised by 41 percent.
The keyword "Warcraft" was even more searched and discussed online than "Dragon Boat Festival," according to China's search engine giant Baidu.
However, after the power release from fans of the video game, "Warcraft" has started to suffer a big decline as the holiday ends. It remains to be seen if it can actually challenge the top grossing films in China such as "The Mermaid" and "Furious 7."
Although phenomenal in China and performing well in other countries like Russia, France and Germany, "Warcraft," with a budget of US$160 million, met with a lukewarm response in its homeland of North America. It now carries a 26 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating, and is likely to earn just over US$20 million in its opening weekend, behind "The Conjuring 2" and "Now You See Me 2."
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