(WSJ) Backers’ hopes that “The Great Wall” would be the first global hit made in China fizzled this weekend as the big budget movie opened to a soft $21.7 million in the U.S. and Canada.
It was No. 3 at the domestic box office over the four-day Presidents Day weekend, behind “The Lego Batman Movie” and “Fifty Shades Darker,” both of which opened the prior week.
Legendary Pictures, owned by China’s Dalian Wanda Group Co., and partners spent about $150 million to make “The Great Wall,” an action movie that posits that the wonder of the world was built to repel monsters. Directed by the respected Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou and starring Matt Damon, the English language movie is part of a broader effort in that country, encouraged by the government, to use popular culture as a form of “soft power” that extends Chinese influence around the world.
But while Chinese films have become increasingly successful in that country’s domestic box office, regularly rivaling the biggest Hollywood imports, they have yet to garner much international success.
“The Great Wall’s” $21.7 million debut in the U.S. and Canada, the world’s biggest movie market, is well below what is typically needed for a movie with such a large budget.
It was released and marketed domestically by Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures, which has a distribution deal with Legendary.
“This is an example where the domestic market really is a piece of a larger puzzle,” said Nicholas Carpou, Universal’s president of domestic distribution.
The disappointing U.S. start comes after “The Great Wall” has grossed $171 million in China—a healthy performance but not as much as Wanda and its partners had hoped for given the movie’s pedigree and budget. Other Hollywood blockbusters have grossed more in the country, including Legendary’s own videogame adaptation “Warcraft” last year.
With few big performances in other foreign countries, “The Great Wall” has grossed a total of $262.7 million world-wide so far.
Two other movies opened this four-day weekend. Warner’s comedy “Fist Fight” made its debut to a modest $14.5 million, while thriller “A Cure for Wellness,” from 21st Century Fox Inc.’s Twentieth Century Fox,” flopped with just $5 million.
“Lego Batman” declined just 35% over the three-day weekend from its opening and grossed a total of $107 million domestically through Monday. It is a solid hit for Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros., though not as big as 2014’s “The Lego Movie,” which also opened the week before Presidents Day and grossed $142.8 million through the holiday.
Universal’s “Fifty Shades” sequel has grossed a total of $91.9 million domestically. 2015’s first movie based on the erotic book trilogy grossed $131 million by its second Monday in theaters.
Source: Wall Street Journal by Ben Fritz
