While North America did not get particularly excited about the Warcraft movie, overseas, especially in China, the box office went nuts. With the growing importance of China as a box office power, would that be enough to make a sequel happen? Early signs point to yes, as a recent post on the film's Chinese social media site seems to imply not simply that a sequel could happen, but that it will happen.
Warcraft's domestic box office has yet to break $50 million, even though the film has been out for over a month. By contrast, in China, the movie made a $145 million in four days. Globally, Warcraft now stands as the most successful video game movie of all time. All of this has put the film in a unique place. The movie was a hit, but not in the place where people green light movies. However, it appears that sequel plans may be moving forward thanks to the success in China. A recent post on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, was recently posted, and translated, on the World of Warcraft Reddit page, and it tells fans to be ready for more.
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While the translation is certainly rough, the intent seems clear. The post is not saying that more movies may be coming down the line, but rather, it says that they are. It's fitting that China would be the place that this was announced. One would have to assume that whatever the plan for more Warcraft films, they will be geared toward success in China more so than the west. While movies have been trying to add things in order to appeal to the nation for years, this could be the first time that a major motion picture produced in the west is really made for the Chinese audience. It's believed that China will soon become the largest segment of the global box office. Warcraft could very well be the beginning of that shift.
Warcraft certainly left itself open to potential sequels. It took the majority of its content only from the first Warcraft video game, Orcs vs. Humans, which means that there are several real-time strategy games, as well as the massive World of Warcraft universe to mine for more material. How a Warcraft sequel created for China, where World of Warcraft is still a massively popular game, would differ from the first film is unclear. We would certainly expect it to make some changes based on the audience.
Would you be excited to see a Warcraft sequel? Let us know in the comments.
