‘Warcraft’ Ganks In China & Jackie Chan Couldn’t Be Happier About It

Warcraft had a dismal opening weekend in the United States, netting only $24.4 million in second place behind The Conjuring 2, according to Variety. But the situation couldn’t be farther reversed in China, where Warcraft opened to a resounding $144.7 million over four days, and Jackie Chan is overjoyed about it.

Speaking at the Shanghai International Film Festival, Chan pointed to the difference in audience tastes seen with the Warcraft movie’s Chinese success, and the possibilities that holds for making China a film market in of itself, separate from Hollywood in both scope and talent.

"Warcraft made 600 million RMB ($91 million) in two days — this has scared the Americans,” Chan said, reports The Hollywood Reporter. “If we can make a film that earns 10 billion ($1.5 billion), then people from all over the world who study film will learn Chinese, instead of us learning English.”

Chan also said that China has been overlooked for decades as a “nothing market,” according to THR, and that, speaking to a predominantly Chinese audience, “It is you, not us who makes China powerful. So, thank you all — we hope Chinese film industry gets even more powerful.”

Recently released by Universal, the Warcraft is based on the video game universe created by Blizzard and featured in iconic games such as World of Warcraft, Warcraft III and Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. The adaption had a production budget of $160 million, which does not include marketing costs, and has mostly either been panned or received lackluster reviews (you can read iDigi’s review here), netting a 27 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.