Last Jedi eclipsed by hit local comedy at China box office

Within the space of two weeks, Star Wars: The Last Jedi swept the world to overtake fellow Disney blockbuster Beauty and the Beast to top the North American box office for 2017.

But just as many Chinese industry watchers predicted, the sci-fi saga found it difficult to win over Chinese audiences, due in part to perceived cultural differences.

When the latest Star Wars movie, the eighth installment of the long-running sci-fi franchise, opened on the Chinese mainland on Jan 5, it made just 61.3 million yuan ($9.45 million) on its first day, less than half the takings of top earner The Ex-File: The Return of the Exes, which was released on Dec 29.