It might seem a bit baffling that the Warcraft film was released in China well before it was released in the United States (which is sort of the origin point for World of Warcraft, for those who missed that memo). Then again, it makes perfect sense when you look at the film’s opening numbers. The movie hit an impressive $156 million when it premiered in China, but its opening weekend here garnered a disappointing $24.4 million against a budget of $160 million before marketing.
More than half of the audience members polled were loyalists to the game, but that still was apparently not enough to pull the film out of “bomb” territory. It’s unclear how well the movie will have to do in foreign markets to break even, as budget doesn’t take marketing or other peripheral expenses into account, but it’s safe to say that the take from China will need to be significant; US reception is proving very, very frosty. Our own review of the film is forthcoming soon.
