Star Wars flop explained? THIS could be part of why new movies have suffered at box office

Solo: A Star Wars Story struggled at the worldwide box office, whilst the last movie in the main saga – The Last Jedi – suffered from a divided reaction from fans and poor box office results in one of the world’s biggest markets: China.

So why aren’t Chinese audiences connecting with the Star Wars films, when success in that country could significantly boost a film’s overall global takings?

Just look at xXx: Return of Xander Cage, which took just $44 million in the US but scored a huge $164 million in China, a hefty part of its $346 million global total.

Donnie Yen starred in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (and, incidentally, xXx: Return of Xander Cage) and has explained the problem in a new interview.

He told JoBlo.com: “Chinese audiences didn’t grow up with Star Wars culture so unfortunately it didn’t work. Marvel is a lot easier to understand.

“Star Wars, there’s a whole universe out there. Marvel, from the costumes, to the music, to the idols, to the stars, it’s much easier to close the gap between the film itself and the audience.”

The Last Jedi entered in second place at the Chinese box office upon its release at the start of the year; making $28.1 million in its first frame.

Its takings nosedived 91% in the second week, and the film has overall managed just over $42 million in that territory – according to Box Office Moji.

Solo opened in third place in China when it was released a few months ago, with a $10.5m haul in its first weekend.

Still, Star Wars remains hot property around the world, with Solo thought to have clocked in an overall worldwide gross of $391 million – still a hefty sum by many metrics.

The Last Jedi, meanwhile, achieved $1.3 billion – helping to nudge LucasFilm into green-lighting at least two more trilogies and multiple small-screen projects.

The Skywalker saga will close with the as-yet-untitled Episode 9, due for release in late 2019.

Director JJ Abrams started production last week after announcing his headline cast – including a returning Mark Hamill and, thanks to unused footage from previous films, Carrie Fisher.

Whether or not the excitement of a saga finale will be enough to boost the series’ fortunes in China remains to be seen.

Star Wars: Episode 9 is out in December 2019.