‘Warcraft’s’ China box office nabs records in first two days

Whether the Orcs and humans of “Warcraft” can appeal to American moviegoers remains an open question, but there’s little doubt about their pull in China.

The Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures film has grossed up to $92 million in China in its first two days of release, according to studio estimates. In local currency terms, the movie is outpacing last year’s blockbuster “Furious 7,” which eventually scored $391 million in the country.

“Warcraft,” based on the popular “World of Warcraft” game from Blizzard Entertainment, pulled in more than $44 million in Chinese ticket sales Thursday, its second day in release, easily topping the previous record set by local production “The Mermaid” earlier this year.

The new movie accounted for 81% of the China box office on Thursday.

That’s good news for the studios behind the $160-million production, which is expected to open to lackluster results in the United States and Canada this weekend. People who have reviewed tracking surveys estimate it will gross $25 million domestically through Sunday.

But China, as expected, is providing a key boost for the hoped-for blockbuster directed by Duncan Jones.

While Universal Pictures is releasing the movie in the United States and in other countries, Legendary is handling the China release with China Film Group.

Legendary has an advantage in that country. It recently was bought by Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group, owner of the nation’s largest theater chain, for $3.5 billion. The company, led by billionaire Wang Jianlin, is giving the film a huge push across China.

The movie is playing in a record-setting 67.5% of the 39,000 theater screens in mainland China, higher than previous record-holder “Furious 7.”

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