Why ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ is expected to flop at China box office
SUMMARY
"Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" is heading for the worst opening at the China box office of Disney's new "Star Wars" movies.
The movie had earned $2.2 million in the region by 8 p.m. local time on Friday, according to Variety, and was trailing behind three Chinese movies. The Chinese ticket service Maoyan is projecting "The Rise of Skywalker" to earn just $18 million during its theatrical run in China.
The "Star Wars" franchise has struggled to build an audience in the country, where Hollywood is increasingly relying on its box office to boost its blockbusters. The Chinese theatrical market has been growing at a rapid pace and is even projected to dethrone the US as the world's box-office leader within the next few years.
Each Disney-era "Star Wars" movie has made less in China than the previous one. Here's how each of them performed there:
- "The Force Awakens" — 4 million
- "Rogue One" — million
- "The Last Jedi" — million
- "Solo" — million
(Disney/Lucasfilm)
Despite the lack of enthusiasm in China, all of those movies except "Solo" grossed over id="listicle-2641661309" billion worldwide. "The Force Awakens" earned over billion globally and 6 million domestically.
"The Rise of Skywalker" is expected to have a big opening domestically this weekend — despite negative reviews — but still less than the previous movies in the new trilogy. Boxoffice.com is projecting the movie to debut between 0 million and 0 million. "The Force Awakens" opened with 8 million domestically and "The Last Jedi" with 0 million.
"The Rise of Skywalker" so far has a 57% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the worst-reviewed "Star Wars" movie since "The Phantom Menace."
This article originally appeared on Business Insider. Follow @BusinessInsider on Twitter.
Read more:
- 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' is so busy making unnecessary references to the franchise it forgets to tell a good story
- 'Rise of Skywalker' is the worst-reviewed 'Star Wars' movie since 'Phantom Menace'
- All the 'Star Wars' movies, ranked from worst to best — including 'Rise of Skywalker'
- 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' is headed for a huge box-office opening despite negative reviews
