'Xander Cage' Wins Big in China
by EG
If you're wondering why some movie franchises keep going strong, producing installment after installment even though they don't do great business in the United States, take a look at the case of XXX: Return of Xander Cage. The action movie was a bomb in America, but it's setting the box office on fire in China.
Xander Cage took in $20 million in the US in its opening weekend in late January. So far, it's earned $41 million domestically. That's not great business for a movie with a production budget of $85 million.
It's a totally different story in China. The movie earned more than $20 million in its first day in release in that country, easily making its way to the top box-office spot, and it's very likely to earn more in China overall than it earns on its home continent. The movie's worldwide gross at this point stands at $155.7 million.
The success of the film makes clear that, in some cases, American moviegoers are a minority of a movie's market. Explosive, simply plotted action and adventure movies that translate easily to multiple cultures do especially well worldwide. That could mean that Americans might get more films like this from Hollywood, whether broad American audiences want them or not.