The Hollywood sci-fi movie “Arrival” bombed in China. On its first weekend of exhibition, the film earned only 52.6 million yuan or $7.4 million. It is one-fourth less than the forecast.
The amount is less than 50 percent of what “Passengers” earned on its opening weekend in China and 25 percent of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” box office. The reason behind the low audience response was Chinese moviegoers could not understand the movie, CFI reported.
China in Climax
Similar to “Rogue One” where the presence of Chinese actors Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen failed to bring in the crowds, the important role that China played in the movie’s end was not enough incentive for local audience to watch the film. It could be because the same tired plot of Chinese leaders being responsible for saving humanity from doom had been used by film producers since 2012 in “Gravity” to improve box-office earnings in the second-largest movie market in the world.
Not only did the Chinese moviegoers stayed away from “Arrival,” those who watched it gave the film low ratings which averaged 7.5 out of 10 in Maoyan, an online ticketing portal. It is lower than “Rogue One’s” 8 rating. One moviegoer wrote that if a viewer stayed until the end of the film, he would feel like an idiot or just slept inside the cinema.
Box-Office Results
In spite of the week box-office results on a pre-Lunar New Year weekend, “Arrival” still topped the list when it came to earnings in China. It was followed by Passengers ($7 million), “Some Like It Hot” ($5.6 million) and “Rogue One” ($3.5 million).
In contrast, domestic earnings of “Arrival” is close to $100 million. It is also a nominee for Best Picture in the Oscars along with “La La Land” and “Hidden Figures” which are also near the $100 million mark, LA Times reported. “Moonlight” and “Lion” both earned only $16 million each.