The Force does not seem to be with the “Star Wars” franchise in China.
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” opened to just $30.6 million on the first weekend of its January 6 release, according to Chinese movie analytics firm Artisan Gateway.
The film topped Chinese-langauge movies “Some Like It Hot” and “Railroad Tigers” in what was a quiet weekend for the Chinese box office — but lagged well behind the $52.6 million debut for “The Force Awakens” last year.
Still, “The Force Awakens” managed to run up a solid but unspectacular $124 million in China, one of the few markets where the film was a relative disappointment. To compare, “Captain America: Civil War,” which grossed slightly more than half the global total of “Force Awakens,” reeled in $190 million in China alone.
But despite Disney and Lucafilm’s decision to cast two of China’s biggest stars in “Rogue One” — Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen appear alongside Felicity Jones, Diego Luna and Ben Mendelsohn in the prequel — the film looks like it will far short its underperforming predecessor in China.
It seems that the “Star Wars” team still hasn’t cracked the code to break into the world’s second-largest movie market, and they might be running out of obvious ways to make that happen.
“Rogue One’s” January 6 release date wasn’t ideal, coming three weeks before the Chinese New Year holiday when the country’s censors clear its cinemas for local fare (and families spend a lot of money). But Jonathan Papish, an industry analyst at China Film Insider, told TheWrap the prequel’s struggles are more about the movie than the calendar.
“It’s still a case of ‘Star Wars’ being unable to break out with general Chinese audiences unfamiliar with the characters and overall story despite Disney’s best efforts to bring them in,” he said.
The original “Star Wars” films first came out in the 1970s and ’80s when China’s movie market was closed, and most of its audience’s first exposure to the iconic space opera franchise came through its less acclaimed prequels, released from 1999 to 2005.
Disney rolled out a massive marketing campaign ahead of “The Force Awakens” that included placing 500 Stormtroopers on the Great Wall and an official song from pop star Lu Han, but the magic of the “Star Wars” universe still seems to get lost in translation.
Papish, who grew up in the U.S., said he personally loved “Rogue One” and the treatment of the two Chinese characters, but his opinion didn’t really resonate in China.
“It’s polarizing Chinese audiences,” he said. “Those who grew up with the prequel trilogy or maybe caught the original trilogy somehow are giving the film some face, but the newer generation of moviegoers — those that really help a film break out at the box office — just don’t care about these stories.”
Even worse, merely adding local stars to a film that doesn’t otherwise appeal to Chinese audiences could backfire — and hurt the ability of the studio to lure those moviegoers down the line.
“The small number of Donnie Yen or Jiang Wen fans who turned out to see their faces were completely confused or bored with the rest of the story, which ultimately will turn them off from future ‘Star Wars’ installments,” Papish said.
Turns out, converting China’s young moviegoers into “Star Wars” fans might still be far, far away.
'Rogue One': 35 Characters Ranked, from Worst to Best (Photos)
Who was the biggest star in "Rogue One"? That's a question we're setting out to answer, and it's a tough one at that. With a cast that boasts the talents of Felicity Jones, Forest Whitaker and Diego Luna (just to name a few), it's hard to pick out the best of them. See how your list compares to ours.
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34-35. C-3PO and R2-D2
The worst of all the “A New Hope” call-backs. Not only does C-3PO continue the trend that no one has written him a funny line since “Return of the Jedi,” but this almost comes off as a plot hole, since the two droids must be immediately sprinting to Princess Leia’s blockade runner in order to appear in the next movie.
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32-33. Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba
Of all the call-backs to “A New Hope,” Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba — the two guys who mess with Luke at Mos Eisley before Baba gets his arm sliced off by Obi-Wan — seem the most unnecessary. These guys must have walked directly to their ship and taken off in order to avoid getting wiped out by the Death Star, only to pick the extremely wrong bar fight just days later.
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31. Red 5
It’s hard not to feel bad for this pilot, whose whole reason for existing in the battle of Scarif is to explode and leave space on the call sign roster for Luke Skywalker. This blurry look of panic is the beginning and end of his tragic story in the movie.
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30. Tentacle monster
Because apparently, it just wouldn’t be New “Star Wars” without a nonsensical, completely extraneous, totally gross alien with tentacles.
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28-29. Edrio Two-Tubes and Benthic
Working under Saw Gererra, Edrio Two-Tubes may not have been the most gentle freedom fighter, but he certainly was efficient. Along with his eggmate Benthic, Two-Tubes was a daunting addition to Gererra's ranks of radical fighters. Of course, the problem is that they're horrible people without being the bad guys -- and since we don't really get to know them they're kind of just these random extra irritants.
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27. Bistan
Another of the new aliens, Bistan was part of the ground team on Scarif, and another incredible participant to watch throughout the battle. You'll wanna keep your eyes on the awesome new pair of aliens -- because if you blink you'll miss them.
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26. Pao
This ferocious little freedom fighter was a daring part of the battle on the beaches of Scarif, ready to go into battle the moment he recognized the perfectly rebellious plan. Though awesome, he and Bistan are ranked so low because they're massively underused.
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25. Gold Leader
Hey, remember him? He doesn’t have long to live. Like a couple of weeks at the outside.
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24. Red Leader
Red Leader at least has a better exit than Gold Leader’s panic-stricken Death Star trench death, but neither really helps get anything done in “Rogue One.”
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23. Weeteef Cyubee
An explosives expert and a sniper, Weeteef’s major actions were seemingly cut from the final version of “Rogue One.” While we see nothing about this guy, he does rank as the Warwick Davis character most difficult to recognize as Warwick Davis -- after Wickett the Ewok, since that required Davis to wear an entire Ewok suit.
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22. Tivik
Cassian unceremoniously executes this rebel informant to avoid capture by the Imperials. He’s one of the few people in the game who comes off as sufficiently worried about the Empire as a threat. While he’s mostly for setting up plot and giving some insight into Cassian’s character, Tivik at least gets to freak out appropriately before getting blasted.
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21. Leia Organa
And one quick nod to the Princess herself, who would eventually lose her planet and nearly her entire family to the ruthless wars across the galaxy, yet still picked up at the beginning of every day to lead in place of her adoptive father. Leia, like her brother Luke, represents the hope that carries forward from the efforts of the "Rogue One" crew. Unfortunately, the surprise appearance of her CGI face is, uh, pretty alarming.
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20. Cute plot contrivance kid
Jyn manages to save this kid, who exists simply for Jyn to save her in a heroic moment. Too bad she, her whole family, and probably everyone she knows got eradicated within a few hours.
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19. General Draven
He may not be a fan favorite, but Draven functions a lot like the Mace Windu of the Rebellion, with orders that are well-intentioned but perhaps harsh and misguided. Draven has very obviously seen quite a bit in his time, and still believes in the Rebellion, despite his seemingly too-militaristic nature. Needless to say, his attitude bumped him down quite a few notches.
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18. General Dodonna
A gentle nod to the General who saw the Rebellion through alongside Mon Mothma and was part of Leia's most trusted pool of advisers. Dodonna's years and empathetic nature mesh well in stories like Mark Waid's "Princess Leia" miniseries, so it was nice to see him again. Of course, here he's played by Ian McElhinney (Ser Barristan from "Game of Thrones"), who has a pretty alarmingly different voice from the actor who played Dodonna in "A New Hope."
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17. Corporal Tonc
Among the rebel commandos on Scarif, for a while it seemed like Tonc had a winning ticket. He got to stay back on the ship with Bodhi and hold down the fort until everyone escaped. That didn’t really work out, but Tonc still got to die semi-heroically by trying to fight toward the communications tower linkup. He provided essential human shield assistance.
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16. Admiral Raddus
Of the military commanders in the Battle of Scarif, Raddus is the most heroic and together. He wants to take the fight to the Empire from the start and doesn’t back down from a fight. Unfortunately, someone at Lucasfilm decided he should have an extremely gross, wobbly chin, and it’s impossible to focus on the fact that he’s a solid character because of it.
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15. General Merrick
This guy deserves a massive shout-out as one of the most enthusiastic and skilled rebel pilots in the film. Devoted to the cause, General Merrick likely earned his status thanks to his excellent strategic skills -- and his determination to do good in the face of the most dire situations. And then he crashed his X-Wing into the ground.
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14. Lyra Erso
Toughened in the face of ongoing war and a crumbling marriage, Lyra Erso may not stand out too much in "Rogue One", but her dedication to her family -- and her clear hatred of the Empire -- shines in James Luceno's novel, "Catalyst". It's hard to hate Lyra, but her use as little more than a classic Dead Disney Mom was a little bit of a bummer.
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13. Director Orson Krennic
Okay, so Krennic's guidance of the Death Star project may not have been successful without Galen Erso's extensive genius and a little babysitting by Tarkin. Still, his sarcastic nature and epic cape painted a picture of the Empire at the top of its game. That facade is probably why, in the face of any failure, Krennic can't help but get angry. His hissy fits, though not as bad as Kylo Ren's, keep him down at unlucky number 13.
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12. Mon Mothma
The former chancellor now oversees the growing Rebellion, seemingly benevolent in the face of exceptionally hard decisions. Leia Organa's future mentor is best known calm and thoughtful nature in the face of massive chaos throughout the galaxy. She has a lot of lines, but it feels like she's kind of just there most of the time.
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11. Senator Bail Organa
Bail Organa practically funded the Rebellion by himself and pushed it forward from the moment Padme Amidala proposed it to her most trusted political allies (in a deleted scene from "Revenge of the Sith"). Jimmy Smits' return to the character showed a grey-haired, yet ever determined Organa whose faith in his daughter would help see the Rebellion to victory. His part is actually much better than the random cameo we were expecting.
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10. Darth Vader
The Dark Lord of the Sith makes a triumphant return of sorts in the film at the very height of his career, and it shows. He may not have been around for everything, but his moments were intense and so perfectly Vader that he would have slashed his way to the top -- if not for that horrible one-liner he throws at Krennic. He may not have known he was a father at that point, but he still managed one hell of a dad joke.
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9. Grand Moff Tarkin
One of the surprise key players in the film was none other than Grand Moff Tarkin himself, who's been pretty important in a lot of recent ancillary materials. Tarkin has popped up in the "Rogue One" prequel novel "Catalyst," the novel "Lost Stars," the "Star Wars Rebels" TV series, and even had a novel that was all about him (called "Tarkin"). He's still a force in "Rogue One," and at least his CGI face (RIP Peter Cushing) is pretty good most of the time.
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8. Saw Gererra
Partially insane thanks to almost three decades' worth of radical fighting, Gererra is no longer the militaristic older brother that he was during the Clone Wars. Thanks to Forest Whitaker, Saw has an absolutely huge presence in "Rogue One."
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7. Galen Erso
The man behind the Death Star's design may not have had the best marriage to write home about or the best judgment when it came to friends. Still, as he dug the hole that would eventually land him under Krennic's iron fist, he tried his best to stop it. And he did, through his daughter and, by extension, Luke Skywalker exploiting a weakness Galen had built into this monstrous creation.
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6. Baze Malbus
Chirrut's partner-in-justice may appear gruff, intimidating and huge (which he is), but Malbus has a sense for things that many of his violent nature don't. Empathetic and supportive in his own unique way, Malbus doesn't think twice when it comes to following Chirrut into the Rebellion, and seems to like the idea that he's helping others out. Oh -- and he's a totally badass sniper, too.
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5. Bodhi Rook
Don't overlook the fidgety Bodhi. His anxious nature and comedic one-liners mask what seems to be a massive amount of regret. Without Bodhi's abandonment of the Empire, the Rebels may have never known about the Death Star project at all. So, you know, he's kind of a big deal.
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4. Cassian Andor
So very often in narratives about war and conflict, valiant heroes are given the choice to do what is right, or to just follow orders. This war-weary rebel was more than just a soldier, and his decision to abandon orders in the face of a suicide mission made him a hero for good.
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3. Jyn Erso
Jyn's shock at being thrown into the fray by the Rebellion didn't last very long, and the self-sufficient heroine didn't piddle around with her decision to join when the stakes were made personal. Jyn may not have been the most heroic person starting out, but her worth was proven by a relentless determination to do the right thing when the galaxy needed her to step up.
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2. K2-SO
The scene-stealer of "Rogue One" was none other than the reprogrammed Imperial security droid with an attitude. "Star Wars" is known for having complex, interesting robots, but "Kay" might rise above the rest with its steely, protected little heart of gold.
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1. Chirrut Imwe
Donnie Yen's casting made headlines for good reason -- the talented actor and martial artist puts everything into his performance to create incredible characters. Wise, loyal and kind, Chirrut is a fantastic representation of the confidence and belief in the Force that the Jedi Order of the prequels was missing. Future heroes take note: this is how you do it.
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‘Rogue One’ boasts an incredible cast, but who stands out?
Who was the biggest star in "Rogue One"? That's a question we're setting out to answer, and it's a tough one at that. With a cast that boasts the talents of Felicity Jones, Forest Whitaker and Diego Luna (just to name a few), it's hard to pick out the best of them. See how your list compares to ours.
Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm
