Disney has a major Star Wars problem no one is talking about...

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Disney paid a few billion dollars for the franchise and, thus far, it's been extremely profitable all around the world...except China.

Despite marketing the ever-loving $#!* out of The Force Awakens, the movie under-performed in China. So, when Rogue One was in its early stages, they rewrote the script to include two Chinese characters, whom they cast with two of China's biggest stars.

Again, Disney marketed the *%# out of Rogue One to the Chinese, and it did even worse than The Force Awakens had.

Why is this a problem? The Chinese market is taking up more and more of the global movie-going audience. If Star Wars isn't catching on in what will soon be the biggest market for movies, that's a very big problem for Disney if they want to wring every last dollar out of their sizable investment.

This will also have the side effect of making Lucasfilm more and more conservative about what the Star Wars brand is because, with the Chinese audience shrinking with each film, that means they'll have to maximize their returns from the rest of world by focusing on what has worked for them in the past, rather than experimenting with their successful formula.

Which may be part of the reason Lucasfilm would hire off-center filmmakers like Lord & Miller a few years ago, but suddenly start getting cold feet now, after the failure of both The Force Awakens and Rogue One in China, in addition to the consistent failure of Western comedies outside of English-speaking countries.

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To be clear, Western movies often do fantastic business in China, just not Star Wars. Movies that are critical and/or financial flops in the West often do very well in China, which is why we're getting a sequel to Pacific Rim, another terrible Terminator sequel and endless abysmal Transformers movies till the end of time. They also love all the Marvel movies and have been the main reason DC Films have stayed afloat. China is a big part of why Batman vs Superman and Suicide Squad were financially successful. The Chinese market doesn't care how bad the dialogue is or inconsistent the tone is or how scattershot the plot is, they often just want to see cool stuff up on the screen...in 3D.

Yes, they're the only reason Hollywood is still doing 3D. The Chinese love it, so Hollywood will keep giving it to them.

[WebLurker]

Considering that Star Wars is more than a movie franchise and has historically been an overall cash cow here in the states, I doubt that Disney is going to suffer much from China not getting swept up into Star Wars-mania.

[Carabas]

This will also have the side effect of making Lucasfilm more and more conservative about what the Star Wars brand is because, with the Chinese audience shrinking with each film, that means they'll have to maximize their returns from the rest of world by focusing on what has worked for them in the past, rather than experimenting with their successful formula.

How do you get more conservative then the Force Awakens?

[Bruce Wayne]

Disney paid a few billion dollars for the franchise and, thus far, it's been extremely profitable all around the world...except China.

China never really saw the OT when it was released (it had just emerged from the Cultural Revolution when ANH came out and aside from HK and Taiwan it was largely closed off from the West) and the PT was never that big there. And LFL and Fox as I understand it never went for a mass theater release during the 80s when Western imports were more welcome (though I'm not sure if it was possible).

The equivalent of SW in China in my experience is essentially Transformers (the original cartoon) which became popular during the late 80s/90s and the nostalgia for that cartoon has largely translated to enormous returns for the Bay movies.

[Buried Alien]

One reason that STAR WARS struggles a bit in China is because some aspects of it...e.g. the Force, the Jedi, and all those lightsaber fights, are too similar to China's own native wuxia films and novels.

Not that STAR WARS is all about the Force, Jedi, and lightsaber duels (plenty of cool spaceship battles, robots, and aliens), but I think that the allure of the other elements don't quite overcome the sense of redundancy that Chinese audiences experience.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[The Whovian]

When the SW movies make as much as they do, it doesn't really matter if China watches it or not. Disney is raking in the money right now on this franchise and will continue to do so for as long as they want.

[Starter Set]

China never really saw the OT when it was released

Yeah, i think it's a big part of it. Star Wars is simply not something they really give much of a damn about or have strong links to it.

Ah well, the evil mouse is going to cook up something in order to make some money from them. The devil has always a plan.

[WillieMorgan]

They also love all the Marvel movies and have been the main reason DC Films have stayed afloat. China is a big part of why Batman vs Superman and Suicide Squad were financially successful.

That's not right at all. The DCEU movies have enjoyed much higher levels of success in other parts of the world than in China. They do decent business there but not to the level that the MCU or something like Transformers does.

The huge success that 'Suicide Squad' enjoyed globally had nothing to do with China. It didn't get a release over there. The market has been reasonably kind to the DCEU movies, and is certainly important, but it's hardly 'keeping them afloat'.

There's a pretty good chance that 'Wonder Woman' could rack up the highest total over there. It's at 83 million now and could catch 'BvS' (95 mill). 'Man Of Steel' lies way behind with 'only' 63 million. For comparison 'Age Of Ultron' grossed 240 million over there.

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That's not right at all. The DCEU movies have enjoyed much higher levels of success in other parts of the world than in China. They do decent business there but not to the level that the MCU or something like Transformers does.

The huge success that 'Suicide Squad' enjoyed globally had nothing to do with China. It didn't get a release over there. The market has been reasonably kind to the DCEU movies, and is certainly important, but it's hardly 'keeping them afloat'.

There's a pretty good chance that 'Wonder Woman' could rack up the highest total over there. It's at 83 million now and could catch 'BvS' (95 mill). 'Man Of Steel' lies way behind with 'only' 63 million. For comparison 'Age Of Ultron' grossed 240 million over there.

Sorry for the late reply. Didn't see this until now. You are completely right. Suicide Squad did not open in China, which makes its international box office even more impressive.

The power of a trendy soundtrack and Margot Robbie's butt should not be underestimated.

[Rapha8]

I can't believe we are talking about China. Star Wars isn't China base. If the Chinese come out with a movie and it big in China, but not in the US.
What do that mean? Nothing. Why should the US movie company change for China?


Off topic: so do Superman lol

http://www.dccomics.com/comics/new-s...r-man-1http://

[Carabas]

Why should the US movie company change for China?

Because it is one of the largest sources of box office money on the planet is why.

[WillieMorgan]

The power of a trendy soundtrack and Margot Robbie's butt should not be underestimated.

It's a powerful marketing tool indeed! It certainly won me over in 'The Wolf Of Wall Street'.

[WebLurker]

I can't believe we are talking about China. Star Wars isn't China base. If the Chinese come out with a movie and it big in China, but not in the US.
What do that mean? Nothing. Why should the US movie company change for China?


Off topic: so do Superman lol

http://www.dccomics.com/comics/new-s...r-man-1http://

There are stories of movies not doing well domestically but making a profit thanks to the Chinese market.

[nnelg]

There is a Youtube chanel where this guy from another country lives in China, he did a video where he said that they just pirate all of their entertainment there. People probably watched the two new Star Wars movies but didn't pay.