The Force Finally Awakens in China to Break Box Office Records
The worldwide blockbuster movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens broke records in China by making an estimated $33 million on its first day of release according to the Walt Disney Co. This new installment of the widely successful franchise was released on January 9th in China. This is the biggest opening box office debut for Disney’s film studio in China. Not only is it the biggest box office opening ever in China for a Disney film, but it is the highest Saturday opening ever in the country in industry history according to the company. The movie has been setting records all around the world. China has been the final country to receive The Force Awakens.
Chinese figures show that 71% of movie goers on Saturday bought tickets to see new the Star Wars movie. “Detective Chinatown” came in at second place with $3.96 million. Coming in at third place was “Mr. Six” with $2.34 million. The Force Awakens is the first major international movie that has been released in China for a month.
The Force Awakens is the seventh installment in the blockbuster Star Wars movies which was created by George Lucas. Force Awakens is the top grossest movie of all time in the United States and Canada which are the two biggest movie markets in the world.
Disney has reported that global sales for the movie had reached 1.6 billion. The box office sales for China will help determine if The Force Awakens will be the highest grossing movie of all time in Hollywood history. Avatar made $2.8 billion after it was released in December.
In contrast, Universal’s Jurrassic Park made $17.24 million on its debut day in China. The opening for the movie took place in June on a Wednesday.
This successful space adventurous saga has set a record in the United States on last Wednesday. The movie broke Avatar’s box office record. As of Friday, it has made a total of $781 million.
The Force Awakens stars Daisy Ridley and John Boyega both attended the premiere in Shanghai on December 27th, along with robots BB8 and R2D2, producer Kathleen Kennedy, and director JJ Abrams.
The Star Wars movie franchise started in 1977. Since the start of the franchise, children and adults have enjoyed the movies. When the franchise first started it was not a success in China like it was in other countries. The original Star Wars movies were not shown in China in theaters until last June. Prior to June, the movies had been shown on television and in legal and illegal formats for home entertainment.
Disney had launched an interesting marketing tool for the movie in China. According to Deadline, Disney launched 500 Stormtroopers to march on the Great Wall when the first trailer was released in June.
The successful Disney movie company even used a big time music star to help promote the movie. Chinese superstar Lu Han who is considered to be the Justin Bieber of China made a promotional song for The Force Awakens. He has appeared in promotional videos and released a music video called “The Inner Force” last Thursday. He has become an official ambassador for the film.
In June, Disney raised awareness about the movie in China. Disney played all six installments at the Shanghai International Film Festival. Not only were all six installments were shown at the festival, but Disney made a deal with Tencent. The deal was to create an online site where all the installments could be available.
It has been announced that Star Wars attractions would be opened later this year for the Shanghai Disney Resort.
Disney has already made its moves to make sure the next Star Wars movie, “Rogue One,” appeals to Chinese audiences. Martial Arts actor Donnie Yen and actor and director Jiang Wen have already been casted for the next installment of the franchise.
Many are predicting that China will surpass North America in being the largest movie market next year. Hollywood has been casting more Chinese actors and directors to have global appeal. They have even been incorporating more Chinese elements.
On February 8th of this year, the movie will not be shown in theaters in China anymore which is the first day of the peak Chinese New Year season.
With The Force Awakens being such a success around the world, one can only imagine just how well “Rogue One” will perform globally. With Chinese culture being incorporated in the next installment, there is a good chance that it will be even more successful than The Force Awakens globally. It has been reported that there will be a new Star Wars movie released every year until the year 2020 internationally. How much of a success will each of them be? We will have to wait and see.
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