Having earned only $37 million during its first two weekends in North America, you might think that the big screen adaptation of Warcraft – which cost $160 million to make a reality – should be considered a flop. In all honesty, that’s a pretty terrible result, but it turns out that the Duncan Jones helmed release is in actual fact the most successful video game movie of all-time.
After making $339 million internationally, Warcraft is now closing in on $400 million as it has a current haul of an impressive $377 million. Amazingly, over $200 million of that has come from China, but the fact that roughly 90% of what it’s made has come from outside of the US is still surprising. However, regardless of where the money came from, Warcraft may have now earned more than enough to warrant a sequel being given the green light.
Jones has made it clear that he’d like to be involved with a follow up, and while Universal and Legendary are going to want to make some changes in order to address the reviews (it currently sits around the 30% mark on Rotten Tomatoes), this franchise having a future beyond just the first instalment is a very real possibility now.
China’s importance in terms of box office revenue continues to grow, and there are those who believe it will overtake the US by as soon as next year. If a Warcraft sequel does happen, the fact that its performance in North America has proven to be so unimportant will certainly point to a change in which countries hold the most importance to studios moving forward.
For now though, Warcraft is indeed a moderate hit, so don’t be surprised to hear something about a follow-up in the near future, especially if home video sales prove to be strong.