Scott Mendelson at Forbes has taken a detailed look at The Last Jedi’s performance in the Chinese market, and how that has impacted on its overall box office success. Here is an extract:
The Last Jedi and The Force Awakens both made 53% of their money overseas, which a smaller overseas advantage than a conventional blockbuster which often makes double overseas what it makes in North America, but over/under the likes of Wonder Woman, Rogue One, Finding Dory and The Dark Knight. But in terms of retention and comparisons, China kind of messed everything up.
If you saw what happened in early 2016 this shouldn’t have been a surprise. The Force Awakens snagged $33 million on its first day of release in China but then free-fell for a $124 million total in said territory. For comparison, Terminator: Genisys had longer legs ($27 million opening day/$113 million total) in August 2015. Fair or not, China (as a whole) didn’t care much for the nostalgia-driven Force Awakens, and there was little reason to assume they’d change their tune this time out.
Among the territories where The Force Awakens earned at least $10 million, The Last Jedi had a 62% retention rate except for China (-66% for a $42.5 million gross), South Korea (-67% for a $7.9 million gross) and Hong Kong (-45% for a $6 million gross). If you take China and South Korea out of the equation, the overall overseas retention goes from 54% to 56.5%. Of the 50 territories in question, 25% of them had 80%-or higher retention rates while 34% had 75%-or higher retention from The Force Awakens. Denmark (-1.3%) and Slovakia (+6%) really like Star Wars.
It’s worth remembering that The Last Jedi IS one of the largest ever box office takes, but undoubtedly the disappointment of the China will hurt Disney who targeted the market hard. For the full analysis, take the link to the Forbes article.
