Warcraft didn’t get much love from critics or money from American audiences. Still, the most successful film adaptation of a video game of all time is probably getting a sequel. Audiences in the U.S. just might not see it. TheWrap is speculating that a possible Warcraft sequel has fairly poor prospects in the U.S., but since it made a fortune in China, and did well elsewhere in the world in countries like Russia, France and Germany, it will likely be released there and dumped on streaming services in America.
However, don’t be fooled by claims this means that China is somehow going to be more important to the box office. This is, in fact, the global box office reverting to norms. Despite the attempts to talk this up as proof of China’s coming box office primacy, the reality is that Warcraft was largely an American production funded with Chinese money, making it more like the Chinese’s film industry’s ongoing love affair with giant CGI-laden wuxia epics than a traditional Hollywood blockbuster. And don’t forget that despite Warcraft‘s showing in China, neither Deadpool nor Suicide Squad got anywhere near Chinese theaters and both handily outgrossed Warcraft, Deadpool doing so on a $60 million budget. So don’t be fooled by the hype: Warcraft 2 leaving the U.S. is Hollywood business as usual.
(via TheWrap)
