The China market contributed more than 50% of the box office,"Warcraft" still lost US$15 million

Of the US$430 million in the global after-sales box office of "Warcraft", more than 89% of box office revenue came from overseas, of which China audiences contributed US$221 million, more than half of box office revenue.

The discussion about the movie "Warcraft" finally gradually subsided with the release of the movie. However, fans are still concerned about whether a sequel will be made to this game, a very important case in the history of adapting movies.

When asking whether a movie wants a sequel, the first consideration is often its profitability. Of the US$430 million in the global after-sales box office of "Warcraft", more than 89% of box office revenue came from overseas, of which China audiences contributed US$221 million, more than half of box office revenue.

However, even if China audiences worked so hard, the film still lost money-according to estimates by The Hollywood Reporter, the film, which cost US$160 million to shoot, would have to earn more than US$450 million in box office to recover its cost. Without counting other income from derivatives and digital movie rights in the China market, they estimated that the film would lose US$30 million to US$40 million; However, since China's digital copyright film rights were sold for a high price of US$24 million, the loss will be relatively small: according to people familiar with the matter, the film ultimately lost US$15 million.

Compared with the cost of film production, US$15 million is not a particularly large figure, but it is a loss after all. Director Duncan Jones once said when the film was coming to an end last year that he had three film ideas. "If this movie is a success, I'm pretty sure Chris Metzen and I have figured out what all three movies should be about." Chirs Metzen is Blizzard's Story and Series Director.

A loss of $15 million and negative reviews on North American film review websites are not expected to be a big success.

However, that doesn't mean that there is definitely no sequel to the movie. In fact, the official Weibo account of the "Warcraft" movie said,"This is just the beginning." A future sequel to the Warcraft movie may become a movie released only for non-North American markets with good box office sales, especially China. Eric Handle, an analyst at MKM Partners, said: "If there is a sequel to this movie, it would be best to only show it to a China audience. The movie performed well in markets where games are popular such as France and Germany, but it was the China market that really saved it."

Legendary Pictures has reason to do so. They can get 25% of the box office of "Warcraft" movies, and after being acquired by Wanda, they can increase their share of the box office of China movies to 43%.

However, even if the audience's positioning is changed, this still does not guarantee that the sequel to "Warcraft" will be a good movie. What's more, some insiders said that the budget for the movie sequel will be reduced.

Editor: yvonne