Promotional material for Eddie the Eagle Photo: IC Although it stars popular actors Hugh Jackman and Taron Egerton Alexei Ramirez Jersey , British-American sports drama Eddie the Eagle has received a rather cold reception at the Chinese mainland box office.
Despite good word of mouth coming from an advance screening of the film on March 9, Eddie the Eagle opened in the mainland on Friday on only 7 percent of screens nationwide, ranking fifth in screen share, according to domestic film website mtime.
Currently, fans have launched a #SaveEddietheEagle'sscreens# campaign on social media to help promote the film to a broader audience. Posting their ticket stubs Yangervis Solarte Jersey , giving the film high scores on film sites and expressing their disappointment and worry that the film won't be seen by more people in China, fans have been doing all they can to bring the film to the attention of the public.
As one of those who saw the film at the pre-screening and enjoyed it immensely, I knew that the film was probably going to have trouble performing in the Chinese market (See March 11's "Sticking the Landing").
Eddie the Eagle only earned 2.68 million yuan ($0.41 million) at the mainland box office over the weekend and on Monday was only showing on 3.02 percent of screens nationwide, according to Entgroup's China Box Office. An imported film with little in the way of special effects, many predicted that it wouldn't do well in the mainland Rickey Henderson Jersey , but still this extremely low screen share percentage is a surprise.
Although sports films are one of the least popular genres in China, now that the country is busy preparing for the 2022 Winter Olympics, it seemed like the perfect time for a film such as Eddie the Eagle, which covers the struggles of a ski-jumping enthusiast to take part in the Olympics.
However, the life of a would-be Olympic athlete is far removed from the lives of most Chinese audiences. This presented a problem for the film since lacking a connection to a story Derek Norris Jersey , audiences in China naturally turn to exciting visuals for their entertainment.
Looking at the highest-earning films on China box office, one may quickly notice that all five of the imported films on the top 10 list are blockbusters with exciting visual effects: Fast & Furious 7 (2.43 billion yuan, No. 3), Transformers: Age of Extinction (1.98 billion yuan, No. 4) Ozzie Smith Jersey , Avengers: Age of Ultron (1.46 billion yuan, No. 7), Jurassic World (1.42 billion yuan, No. 9), and Avatar (1.34 billion yuan Abraham Almonte Jersey , No. 10).
While these films meet Chinese audiences' demands for dazzling visuals, Eddie the Eagle is just the opposite.
While the film is about a foreigner whose name is barely known by most Chinese, Eddie's story is actually one that I feel audiences can sympathize with as his joy at taking part in the Olympics despite losing is inspiring. Sadly, when it came to marketing the film the fact that it was inspirational was actually a drawback as few Chinese would like to sit in a theater to watch a film that came across in commercials as a nearly 105 minutes lesson.
"Are you kidding me? My boss preaches at me all day long. Why would I want to waste my free time watching a film that does the same?" This was the first reaction many Chinese had when watching trailers for the film. The marketing company behind the film probably should have focused instead on the more light-hearted side of what is actually a very funny movie. Many Chinese moviegoers appreciate a good comedy and are more willing to accept a "message" when it comes along with a side dish of laughter. The