It seems that the Chinese are not in love with the Star Wars franchise right now. The Last Jedi has performed dismally there, prompting the theater chains to start pulling the film from screenings after only one week in release. Shockingly, The Force Awakens made over $125 million in the region with nearly $50 million in its first seven days. The Last Jedi is having no such luck. Pulling a lowly $28.2 million over its opening weekend, it only made $34.2 million in its first week total and is dropping fast. In fact, it's already being pulled from the majority of theaters before its second full weekend.
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| The Chinese. They hate us. Fight. |
Forbes is reporting that the latest entry in the Star Wars universe will have its theater share reduced from 34.5% of screenings to a meager 2.6% in China. This is a major blow and is a definite sign that the franchise is showing hard signs of fatigue in that part of the world. This may even trigger Episode IX not even getting a theatrical release there. If no interest exists, Disney may refrain from dropping money on marketing and could potentially hold out to only release it strictly in digital formats.
With the film already hitting $1.2 billion worldwide, it's no flop. But there are some definite signs of weakness in the armor.