Variety look at the canny decision to launch hard and release Solo: A Star Wars Story in China at the same time as most other territories around the word on May 25th.
The original “Star Wars” franchise was not screened in China until several years after its initial release in other territories. Contemporaneous screening of the newest episodes began in the new, modern era of Chinese cinema in 2016 with the release of “The Force Awakens.” That film earned a very respectable $124 million from its Jan. 9, 2016, release.
But without the traction and fan base that the series has elsewhere, the franchise has struggled in China to maintain those numbers. “Rogue One,” released on Jan. 6, 2017, grossed $69.5 million, and “The Last Jedi,” released on Jan. 5, 2018, slipped to $42.7 million.
The official Chinese poster released by Disney sports the title (in Chinese) “Knight-Errant Solo.” The artwork features the movie’s stars under the slogan: “Unbridled hero. Extraordinary partners.” In a move that slightly distances the new film from the main franchise movies, the new poster even uses a different Chinese font. It includes an English-language logo in the corner that simply reads “Solo: Star Wars.”
Fingers crossed this is enough to help revive Star Wars in China, which has seen a massive downturn in fortunes since The Force Awakens opened in early 2016.
