Despite "Warcraft" making it big in China, a potential sequel might be a difficult sell, even in the country, analysts said.
According to film industry expert Scott Mendelson, while Warcraft made a splash in its Chinese opening, earning $46 million, the film's box office draw eventually waned over a month of screening, eventually settling for a total gross of $220 million in the country. Mendelson also noted that 41 percent of the total came in the first two days, indicating a steep decline, Forbes reported.
Conversely, it only earned $47.2 million during its run in the United States. It also reportedly underperformed in other markets.
The decline, he said, is not a good sign for a potential sequel. Mendelson explained that in the light of the box office returns, the producers of the sequel will likely try to cater more to the Chinese market, as it is where the movie had the strongest gross. China accounted for 50 percent of the movie's total worldwide gross of $433.5 million.
Sky Moore, of the firm Strock & Strock & Lavan, aired a similar observation, speculating that the hypothetical sequel might not even get American actors, Screen Rant reported. He added that this could also potentially mean that it won't be getting a U.S. release.
However, Mendelson said that such a move would be more akin to an admission of the film's failure. He added that, for the sequel to succeed, it needs to earn a lot more in the territory than the original in order to compensate for regions where it might not be released.
For his part, Moore said that there is still the question of whether a major U.S. studio like Legendary Pictures (Warcraft's producer) would be willing to make a film that is purely targeted towards foreign markets.
While there is yet no official word on a planned sequel, Warcraft director Duncan Jones has earlier expressed that he is willing to return for a new one should he be called in for the job.