It was the battle of two video games that were adapted into films with China as their arena. The clear winner is “Resident Evil: The Final Chapter” which topped China’s box office for its opening weekend, beating “Assassin’s Creed.”
China.org reported that "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" earned 636 million yuan ($92.65 million) in three days of showing in China. On Friday, the movie earned 206 million yuan ($30 million). The movie, which bombed in other markets, has the Chinese audience to thank for boosting its box-office results and even establishing a record as the third-biggest opening day results for a foreign movie in China.
Earnings 6 Times Production Budget
According to Forbes, with “Resident Evil’s” $140 million global earning, because of its China box-office result, is boosted to $238 million. It means the movie has earned almost six times its production budget.
It was third and second to “Warcraft” (253 million yuan) and “Fast & Furious 7” (346 million yuan). In contrast, “Resident Evil: The Final Chapter” earned only $26.54 million in North American since its release on Jan. 27. What could puzzle film industry observers is that the first three installments of “Resident Evil” were not shown in China, so the audience was not that familiar with the film, while the fourth and fifth installments only earned 135 million yuan and 111 million yuan, respectively.
Did Fan Bingbing Help?
Maybe Chinese actress Fan Bingbing appearing in the fifth installment of “Resident Evil: The Final Chapter” helped the film gain some popularity in China. Among the theories why the last installment hit with Chinese audience are the use of good marketing, nostalgia and the local moviegoers’ unquenchable taste for foreign movies.
Ironically, “Resident Evil: The Final Chapter” – directed by Paul W.S. Anderson – has received bad reviews from critics with 33 percent approval rating only on Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, based on 79 reviews.
Competitor “Assassin’s Creed" earned 116 million yuan ($16.87 million) during its opening weekend in China.