This past weekend Wonder Woman 1984 got its international release with the movie screening all over the world in places like France, Mexico, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Brazil Spain and Nigeria, just to name a few. Also included in that list is the United Kingdom, but with tightening security protocols and lockdowns, Western Europe was never really going to be the place where Diana Prince made it.
Instead, Warner's strategy seemed to turn its focus at box offices in densely populated countries in Africa, Central and South America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, which had all proved to be solid markets for Wonder Woman back in 2017. Of course, the largest share of revenue that was up for grabs was in China, a country that not only provides huge numbers, but also one where movie theaters are not struggling nearly as much as in other parts of the world.
Yet things are not going exactly as planned for Warner, as this weekend saw Wonder Woman 1984 severely underperform in China, according to Variety. Despite its predecessor being a $38m hit in 2017, Wonder Woman 1984 only sold around $18.8m in China this time around, falling short of Chinese blockbuster The Rescue which grabbed $36m from the box office, even with the former taking up most of the IMAX screenings in the country.
Outside of China, things are not looking much better for Wonder Woman 1984, with the film totaling $38.5m from all 32 markets where it opened, a relatively small number far below the $60m dollar expectations Warner had for opening weekend. Though the film did fare slightly better in the rest of the countries where it started screening, the importance of the Chinese market cannot be understated.
2017’s Wonder Woman ended up being an $822.2m worldwide hit. The Chinese market contributed a little over 10% of said revenue at $90.5m. Wonder Woman 1984 is running on a $200m budget, not accounting for extra marketing expenses, meaning that if the film continues to underperform for the next few weeks, it could potentially lose money, depending on how much the movie can actually make from its HBO Max release in the United States.
Currently, around two-thirds of cinemas in the U.S. remain closed and even those that are open have had a hard time getting audiences to attend any of the movies shown throughout the year. It’s hard to imagine Wonder Woman 1984 putting an end to that trend, so provided everything stays the same on a short-term scale, Warner’s plans could seriously backfire.
Wonder Woman 1984 is scheduled for release in the United States on December 25, 2020.
Source: Variety