Rogue One Opens to $31 Million in China

Via Gamespot.com:

Rogue One opens in the world’s second-largest movie market.

Star Wars: Rogue One opened in China, the world’s second-largest movie market, on January 6. The numbers are now in, and we know that the sci-fi spinoff made $31 million over its first three days.

That’s a fairly “tepid” box office haul, according to CNBC. Citing numbers from ComScore, the site reported that Rogue One made about 60 percent less than what the The Force Awakens made in its first two days in theaters in the country last year. Rogue One was never expected to make as much money as The Force Awakens in China or other markets around the world, so this is not surprising.

Still, Rogue One was the No. 1 movie at the Chinese box office this past weekend. It was also the top-grossing movie in the US, marking its fourth straight week at the top of the charts.

The Star Wars series overall does not historically do as well in China; CNBC adds: “Many Chinese were not familiar with the original Star Wars trilogy when The Force Awakens marketing machine revved up.”

Disney pushed Rogue One in China with a marketing blitz that included a poster that prominently featured the movie’s Chinese stars, Donnie Yen and Wen Jiang.

Worldwide, Rogue One has now made more than $914 million, according to CNBC. That makes it one of 2016’s highest-grossing films.

The next Star Wars movie is Episode VIII, which comes out this December.