It seems the force isn’t very strong in the Middle Kingdom, as Star Wars: The Last Jedi looks set to struggle at the Chinese box office with an opening weekend of around just $5 million.
THR is reporting that Episode VIII grossed $560,000 in midnight takings on Thursday night, and will likely finish the weekend in second place behind the homegrown comedy The Ex-File 3: The Return of the Exes, which is expected to gross around $11.5 million in its second weekend.
Historically, the Star Wars saga has struggled somewhat in China, with Star Wars: The Force Awakens debuting to $2,5 million in midnight previews – a far cry from the record $8.7 million set by The Fate of the Furious.
The Force Awakens pulled in a total of $124.2 million in China in 2015, while Rogue One: A Star Wars Story earned $69.5 million.
Disney and Lucasfilm will likely not be too concerned however, as The Last Jedi has already grossed $1.122 billion worldwide and will likely enter the top ten highest-grossing movies of all time this weekend, as well as overtaking both The Fate of the Furious ($1.236 billion) and Beauty and the Beast ($1.264) to become 2017’s biggest earner.
In Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the Skywalker saga continues as the heroes of The Force Awakens join the galactic legends in an epic adventure that unlocks age-old mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi sees returning cast members Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), Lupita Nyong’o (Maz Kanata), Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma), Billie Lourd (Lieutenant Connix), Andy Serkis (Supreme Leader Snoke), Peter Mayhew and Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca), Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar), Mike Quinn (Nien Nunb) and Warwick Davis joined by new additions Jimmy Vee (Pan) as R2-D2, Kelly Marie Tran (Ladies Like Us) as Rose, Benicio Del Toro (Guardians of the Galaxy) as DJ and Laura Dern (Jurassic Park) as Vice Admiral Holdo.
