It’s safe to say we were disappointed by Duncan Jones’ Warcraft, the video game adaption that could have turned the tide of awful games turned movies. It didn’t, proving to be a boring, incredibly bloated affair. If you look a the box office numbers in America, where it barely scraped together $37 million of it’s $160 million budget, you can see a lot of people (who aren’t hardcore Warcraft fans) thought the same, and you could call the movie a flop with a 73% drop off on its second weekend. But if you turn your eyes to the international markets, the exact opposite turns out to be the case, with it’s international haul coming to $377 million, beating out Prince of Persia: Sands of Time’s $335 million gross and Tomb Raider’s $275 million. The bulk of this haul, $200 million in fact, comes from China, which isn’t a surprise since the World of Warcraft is huge over there, once again proving that the country is a growing super power when it comes to the global box office.
Will this turn of events give way to the sequel the movie set up with all the subtlety of a titanium bull in a four story china shop? Time will tell, but this once again a great example of the power China can wield. Pacific Rim was also considered a flop in America, but it’s showing in China pushed it into the red and paved the way for the upcoming sequel. Terminator: Genisys also was given a shot in the arm, adding a considerable amount to its international haul. However, Warcraft is the most extreme example of this, with its gross being a 90/10 split between international markets and America. Is this a sign of thing to come? Only time will tell, but make no mistake, China has just started to make its mark on the box office landscape.
Will this turn of events give way to the sequel the movie set up with all the subtlety of a titanium bull in a four story china shop? Time will tell, but this once again a great example of the power China can wield. Pacific Rim was also considered a flop in America, but it’s showing in China pushed it into the red and paved the way for the upcoming sequel. Terminator: Genisys also was given a shot in the arm, adding a considerable amount to its international haul. However, Warcraft is the most extreme example of this, with its gross being a 90/10 split between international markets and America. Is this a sign of thing to come? Only time will tell, but make no mistake, China has just started to make its mark on the box office landscape.
