The wondersThe weekend’s disappointing start at the North American box office – $47 million, a record low for a Marvel Studios release – reinforces analysts’ concerns that superhero fatigue is a pressing and growing problem for major studios. But in China, moviegoers have been snubbing America’s caped crusaders for much longer – and The wonders just marks a new low.
The wonders The film opened in China to just $11.5 million and lost the three-day weekend to a local crime thriller Who is the suspect?, which grossed $11.7 million. Including previews on Thursday evenings, The wondersThe four-day total is $11.8 million.
However, MCU releases have underperformed in China since the pandemic The wondersThe face plant is particularly striking. In 2019, Brie Larson was the franchise starter Captain Marvel opened with $89.3 million on its way to a strong China total of $154 million. According to current forecasts The wonders will be lucky enough to cross the $20 million mark.
Marvel’s other releases in 2023 also did not resonate well with moviegoers in mainland China. Even James Gunns Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – which was a success in North America with sales of $359 million – only earned $27.8 million in China, compared to $48.5 million Guardian 2 (2017) and $86 million for Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania grossed $39.4 million in China in February, down 67 percent Ant-Man and the WaspTotal revenue was $121 million in 2018. MCU releases from 2020 to 2022 were significantly impacted by pandemic-related delays and cinema closures in China, but the social scores of the country’s top ticketing apps also began to decline during this period.
US studio franchises are declining across the board in China, but other action genres have fared slightly better than superhero films. Universals Fast X holds the crown for Hollywood’s biggest film in the country in 2023 with an opening cume of $51.1 million and a total of $140 million. And Transformers: Rise of the Beasts It opened at $40 million and peaked at $92 million. However, the first installments of both film series grossed significantly more in China, indicating a general franchise erosion for the studios.
As elsewhere, the Barbenheimer originals were the outstanding models on the Chinese market this year. Oppenheimer earned $62 million, Christopher Nolan’s second-best performance in China to date Interstellar ($122 million) – and a phenomenal performance for a long-form English-language period drama in the country. Warner Bros.’ BarbieMeanwhile, opened weakly at $8.1 million due to a largely lack of awareness in the market, but word of mouth among cosmopolitan Chinese women pushed the total price up to a whopping $35.2 million – significant, considering , that Barbie dolls have almost no history in the country.
Who is the suspect? (also known as Final suspect), China’s weekend winner, opened a week ago with $23.4 million, including previews. The film is directed by Mo Zhang, daughter of Chinese film legend Zhang Yimou. Produced by Beijing Dino Films, the thriller stars actress Zhang Xiaofei as a lawyer who is forced to defend a death suspect after her own daughter is kidnapped. Chinese ticketing app Maoyan currently predicts the film will end its run with around US$71 million (RMB515 million).
The next US film to hit its Chinese screens will be Lionsgate’s prequel The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakeswhich begins daily on Friday with North America.
Source : www.hollywoodreporter.com