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Matt Glasby

Movie adaptations of video games are usually terrible, and the 2016 movie Warcraft is no exception to the rule – even if it is classier than most.
Based on the wildly successful World of Warcraft strategy game franchise, and directed by Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code), Warcraft pits huge computer-generated orcs (including Destroyer’s Toby Kebbell) against humans (including Vikings’ Travis Fimmel) on the planet of Azeroth, and plays like a mash-up of just about every modern fantasy film.
Warcraft was co-produced by Legendary Pictures, a subsidiary of the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group – not that you’d know it from the cast list, which features only one Asian actor, the underused Daniel Wu Yin-cho.
Although it was a box-office flop in the United States, the movie smashed box office records in China, making US$156 million in its first five days – the biggest opening for any foreign film released there. As a point of comparison, 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens made US$124 million in China over its entire run.


While the critics scratched their heads, the film’s box office take in China helped it topple 2010’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time to become the most successful video game adaptation of all time.
Perhaps this shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Not only is China the world’s biggest entertainment market, it also has an estimated 740 million gamers – more than the combined populations of the US, Japan, Germany, France and the UK, according to The Guardian. So it makes sense that video game adaptations have done well there historically, whatever their quality. And the dialogue is so stilted (sample line: “Gul’dan, the Mak’Gora is sacred. The human won fairly. Honour our traditions!”) it’s hard to imagine it suffering much from being translated.
When Keanu Reeves directed martial arts movie Man of Tai Chi
Compared to Warcraft’s US$213 million haul, 2018’s Rampage topped the charts with US$58 million; Resident Evil: The Final Chapter made US$94.3m in 2016; and 2016’s The Angry Birds Movie, a film based on a plotless mobile game, made US$74.65 million.
As techinasia.com noted, foreign films that do well in China tend to be “action-based special effects bonanzas based on an existing property” – hence the success of the Fast & the Furious and Transformers franchises. Quite how that explains the Angry Birds phenomenon is anyone’s guess, but Warcraft ticks all these boxes and more.
Indeed, if you can get past the fact that it’s nearly impossible to follow what’s going on, the CGI is quite beautiful.

“I hear this ‘CGI in film sucks’ mantra again and again,” tweeted Jones. “It doesn’t … It’s a tool like any other. It can be done well, and it can be done s**t. The best CGI has you forgetting its CGI, and accepting the visual as whatever it is supposed to be.”
When it comes to the China market, co-producer Legendary Pictures – which was also responsible for blockbusters such as The Great Wall, Skyscraper, Godzilla vs. Kong – knows its stuff. World of Warcraft has been insanely popular in China since the PC game Warcraft III was launched in 2002, benefiting from the banning of games consoles and rapidly increasing internet uptake.

For the release of the film, cinemas across the country were decked out in the blue and red colours of the different armies. “It was like a festival,” local fan He Shuai told Shanghai Daily.
Whether that euphoria will translate into real change remains to be seen. The Guardian called it a “watershed moment”, quoting Jeff Bock of research firm Exhibitor Relations. “Warcraft is a juggernaut in China, but was a non-event in North America,” said Bock. “What if they didn’t even attempt a domestic [US] release with the sequel?”
What if, indeed?

Although no sequel has been forthcoming, there’s no doubt the international market is turning towards China. Upon its release, Warcraft’s franchise-teasing subtitle, The Beginning, looked optimistic. A few broken records later, it could be truer than anyone realised.
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American cinema

How Chinese movie fans made Warcraft the most successful video game adaptation of all time

A still from Warcraft: The Beginning (2016).

A still from Warcraft: The Beginning (2016). Despite flopping badly in the US, the film made a massive US$156 million in its first five days on release in China.

Travis Fimmel (left) in a scene from Warcraft: The Beginning.

Fimmel (left) and director Duncan Jones on the set of Warcraft: The Beginning.

A still from Warcraft: The Beginning.

Donnie Yen’s action choreographers on his and Jackie Chan’s lasting influence on movie making

Kenji Tanigaki (left) and Donnie Yen on the Shanghai set of Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (2010).

Kenji Tanigaki (left) and Donnie Yen on the set of Special ID (2013).

Yen (left) and Xing Yu in a still from Flash Point (2007). Both Tanigaki and John Salvitti worked as action choreographers on the film. 

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Tanigaki (left) and Takeru Satoh on the Tokyo set of Rurouni Kenshin: The Final (2021).

John Salvitti (centre) was invited by Donnie Yen to come to Hong Kong in 1989, where he met Yuen Woo-ping (right).

From left: Salvitti, Yuen Woo-ping and Michael Woods on the set of In the Line of Duty 4: Witness, the 1989 film directed by Yuen and starring Donnie Yen. Photo: Facebook

Fight choreographer John Salvitti. Photo: Facebook

Salvitti (right) and Yen on the set of Hero (2002), when he worked as Yen’s assistant.

10 best Asian action movie stars working today, from John Wick 4’s Donnie Yen to Ong-Bak’s Tony Jaa and Attack on Titan’s Rina Takeda

Donnie Yen in Ip Man 3 (2015), directed by Wilson Yip. Photo: Pegasus Motion Pictures

Donnie Yen in a still from Ip Man. It wasn’t until 2005’s SPL that Yen found critical and commercial success – as well as hard-fought global recognition. Photo: Mandarin Films

Wu Jing in a still from Wolf Warrior 2. Photo: China Film Group

Max Zhang (left) and Tony Jaa in a still from SPL2: A Time for Consequences.

Joe Taslim (left) and Hiroyuki Sanada in a still from Mortal Kombat.

Ma Dong-seok in a still from sport drama Champion (2018). Photo: Warner Bros

Zhang Yimou’s fantasy movie The Great Wall with Matt Damon – a great fail for the China-US co-production model

Matt Damon in a still from The Great Wall.

Director Zhang Yimou (centre) and his main cast members on the set of The Great Wall.

Andy Lau in a still from The Great Wall.

Matt Damon in a scene from The Great Wall. The most expensive film ever shot on Chinese soil, it lost US$75 million worldwide.

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Li Bingbing and Jason Statham in a scene from The Meg (2018).

Li Bingbing and Ruby Rose in a still from The Meg.

Rain Wilson and Winston Chow in a still from The Meg.

Li Bingbing (third, left) and Jason Statham (centre) lead an international cast in The Meg (2018). Despite negative reviews, the film made US$530 million worldwide to be the highest-grossing Chinese-American co-production of all time.

How legendary Hong Kong action film director Ringo Lam broke into Hollywood but reserved his best for home

Film director Ringo Lam in 1999. Photo: SCMP.

Chow Yun-fat (left) and Danny Lee in a still from City on Fire, Ringo Lam's classic 1987 film.

Jean-Claude Van Damme in a still from Replicant (2001), directed by Ringo Lam.

(From left) Louis Koo, Shawn Yue and Tong Liya in a still from Wild City (2015).

Filmmaker Ringo Lam in 1990. Photo: SCMP.

Hong Kong film director Ringo Lam in 2016. Photo: Edmond So

Lifestyle

Entertainment

Arts

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Film & TV

East meets West

Keanu Reeves’ martial arts movie Man of Tai Chi marked a high point for China-US co-productions – yet bombed at the box office

Keanu Reeves in a still from Man of Tai Chi (2013).

Tiger Chen stars in Man of Tai Chi, a 2013 film directed by Keanu Reeves.

Tiger Chen (right) and Yu Hai in a still from Man of Tai Chi.

Keanu Reeves in a still from Man of Tai Chi.

How 2012 time-travel thriller Looper rewrote the future of Chinese-American co-productions

Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a still from Looper.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a scene from Looper. The movie was one of the first major Hollywood films to be granted Chinese co-production status.

Summer Qing (left) and Bruce Willis in a still from Looper.

Emily Blunt in a still from Looper.

Director Rian Johnson (left) speaks to Gordon-Levitt on the set of Looper.

US-China co-production Transformers: Age of Extinction, with its Hong Kong scenes and Chinese character, made more money in China than in the US

Mark Wahlberg in a still fromTransformers: Age of Extinction.  

Optimus Prime and a Dinobot in a still from Transformers: Age of Extinction. The fourth instalment in the Transformers series took more money at the Chinese box office than in the US.

 Mark Wahlberg at the world premiere of Transformers: Age of Extinction, at the Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, in 2014. Photo: Felix Wong

Stanley Tucci and Li Bingbing in a still from Transformers: Age of Extinction.

A model of the Transformers character Bumblebee in front of Qianmen Gate in central Beijing in 2014. Photo: Jason Lee/Reuters

Why China – not Jackie Chan, nor even Jaden Smith – is the real star of 2010 co-production The Karate Kid

Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith in a still from The Karate Kid (2010).

Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, co-stars of The Karate Kid. The real star of the 2010 co-production is arguably China, where the film was shot in locations including the Forbidden City, Great Wall and Wudang mountains. Photo: AP

Jaden Smith in a still from The Karate Kid.

Jackie Chan as Mr. Han and Jaden Smith as Dre Parker in a still from The Karate Kid.

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Robert Downey Jr. in a still from Marvel’s Iron Man 3 (2013). A special cut of the movie made for Chinese audiences included four minutes of extra footage. 

Ben Kingsley plays a version of The Mandarin in Iron Man 3.

Fan Bingbing in a still from the Chinese version of Iron Man 3.

Performers at a promotional event before the release of Iron Man 3 in China. Photo: Reuters

Why Jackie Chan’s 2017 movie The Foreigner, a UK-China co-production, was that rare project to offer the best of both worlds

Jackie Chan in a still from The Foreigner. Photo: Christopher Raphael

Jackie Chan and Rory Fleck Byrne in a still from The Foreigner, directed by Martin Campbell. Photo: Christopher Raphael

Jackie Chan and Katie Leung in a still from The Foreigner. Photo: Christopher Raphael

Pierce Brosnan in a still from The Foreigner.

Jackie Chan (centre) at the China premiere screening of The Foreigner.

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Tao Wu and Joan Chen in a still from The Last Emperor, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.

John Lone as Puyi in a scene from Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor (1987). The film opened doors for future co-productions with China.

A still from The Last Emperor.

Film director Bernardo Bertolucci (right) in Beijing, in 1985, with The Last Emperor adviser Pujie, brother of Puyi, the last emperor of China’s Qing dynasty.

How Furious 7 left the competition behind in China, unlike most China-US co-productions

Paul Walker in a scene from Furious 7. When the China-US co-production was released in China in 2015, it broke just about every record going.

A still from Furious 7.

Director James Wan and Vin Diesel on the set of Furious 7.

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Sylvester Stallone in a still from The Expendables 2.

(From left:) Yu Nan, Terry Crews, Sylvester Stallone, Randy Couture and Dolph Lundgren in a still from The Expendables 2.

Jet Li in a still from The Expendables 2.

Arnold Schwarzenegger in a still from The Expendables 2.

Sylvester Stallone (left) and Yu Nan in a still from The Expendables 2.

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Jet Li in a still from The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

Jet Li as the vicious Han Emperor in a still from The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008).

Maria Bello (left) and Brendan Fraser in a still from The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

Luke Ford (left) and Isabella Leong in a still from The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

Michelle Yeoh in a still from The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

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Jet Li (left) and Jackie Chan in a still from The Forbidden Kingdom. Photo: Online


From left: Jackie Chan, Michael Angarano and Liu Yifei in a still from The Forbidden Kingdom (2008). Photo: SCMPost

Jet Li (left) and Jackie Chan in a still from The Forbidden Kingdom. Photo: Online

Jet Li (left) and Jackie Chan arrive for the world premiere of The Forbidden Kingdom in Beijing, China in 2008. Photo: AP

Jet Li and Liu Yifei in a still from The Forbidden Kingdom (2008).

Steven Spielberg’s China-set Empire of the Sun – the first American film to be shot in Shanghai since the 1940s – forgot one important element: the Chinese

Christian Bale (left) in a still from Empire of the Sun.

Christian Bale in a still from Empire of the Sun.

The crowded streets of Shanghai in a still from Empire of the Sun. Directed by Steven Spielberg.

A still from Empire of the Sun.

How The Dark Knight’s makers tried in vain to court China by shooting scenes for Christopher Nolan’s superhero masterpiece in Hong Kong

The Dark Night was partly filmed in Hong Kong.

Batman swoops over Hong Kong’s Central district in a scene from The Dark Knight, which failed to impress China despite its makers’ intentions. Photo: Warner Brothers

Christopher Nolan (right) on the set of The Dark Knight in Hong Kong.

Crowds mob Christian Bale during shooting in Hong Kong in 2007. Photo: SCMP

 Chin Han plays corrupt businessman Lau (right), with Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, in a still from The Dark Knight (2008).

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Chris Hemsworth in a still from Red Dawn (2012).

(From left) Josh Peck, Josh Hutcherson and Chris Hemsworth in a still from Red Dawn. Photo: Ron Phillips/2009 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios

‘North Korea’ in a still from Red Dawn.

Chris Hemsworth and cast in a still from Red Dawn.

Will Yun Lee in a still from Red Dawn.

Did China ruin actor Richard Gere’s career after 1997 film Red Corner?

FOR USE WITH FEATURE PACKAGE FOR SUNDAY NOV. 2 --Chinese actress Bai Ling begs Richard Gere not to run in a scene from the movie “Red Corner,” being released Friday, Oct. 31.  “Red Corner,” an account of an American executive framed for murder and railroaded by the Chinese judicial system, is one of five films being released that deal with Chinese oppression.  The fresh batch of China-related films is motivated by genuine concern about international human rights and the film business’ unique position to advocate for change. (AP Photo/Richard Foreman Jr., HO)

Richard Gere in the 1997 film Red Corner, which was highly critical of China. Photo: UPPA

Bai Ling (centre) in a still from Red Corner. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios

Richard Gere in a still from Red Corner. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios

Richard Gere (centre) and Bai Ling (right) in a still from Red Corner. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios

Is Dwayne Johnson action movie Skyscraper a blueprint for US-China co-production despite being a box-office flop in America?

Dwayne Johnson attends a Skyscraper press conference in Hong Kong. Photo: Sam Tsang

Dwayne Johnson (left) and Chin Han in a still from Skyscraper, a film which courted the Chinese market it wanted to break into with respect. 

Neve Campbell (left) and Dwayne Johnson in a still from Skyscraper.

Johnson with Chin Han (left) and Campbell (right) at the Skyscraper press conference in West Kowloon, Hong Kong. Photo: Sam Tsang

Dwayne Johnson in a still from Skyscraper.

Why this dragon didn’t roar: starring Sam Neill, first Chinese-Australian film co-production The Dragon Pearl was a flop

Sam Neill in a still from The Dragon Pearl.

A still from The Dragon Pearl (2011). In order to appease China and get approval for the film, the character of the dragon was changed and the script rewritten weeks before filming began. 

Li Linjin as Ling (left) and Jordan Chan as Wu Dong in a still from The Dragon Pearl.

Sam Neill as Chris Chase (left) and Robert Mammone as Philip Dukas in a still from The Dragon Pearl.

Louis Corbett and Li Linjin in a still from The Dragon Pearl.

Why Milla Jovovich movie Ultraviolet, a US film shot in China, went so horribly wrong

Milla Jovovich in a still from the 2006 movie Ultraviolet, a US-China co-production that rips off sci-fi standards such as Total Recall, The Matrix and Minority Report.

Milla Jovovich (left) and Cameron Bright in a still from Ultraviolet.

Milla Jovovich in a still from Ultraviolet.

(From left) Ultraviolet director Kurt Wimmer, Charles Wang of producer Salon Films, and John Tsang, then Hong Kong secretary of commerce, industry and technology, in 2004. Photo: SCMP

Why Brad Pitt was banned from China after 1997 movie Seven Years in Tibet

Brad Pitt as mountaineer Heinrich Harrer in a still from Seven Years in Tibet (1997), directed by Jean-Jacque Annaud. Photo: Columbia/Tristar Photo.

Brad Pitt in a still from Seven Years in Tibet (1997), directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud.

Seven Years in Tibet director Jean-Jacques Annaud (left) and star Brad Pitt (centre), and members of the Tibetan Association of Southern California, at the film’s premiere in Los Angeles on October 6, 1997. Photo: Reuters

Brad Pitt (right) as Heinrich Harrer receives a blessing from Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk as the Dalai Lama in a still from Seven Years in Tibet. Photo: Columbia/Tristar Photo

Brad Pitt (left) as Heinrich Harrer and David Thewlis as fellow Austrian mountaineer Peter Aufschnaiter in a still from Seven Years in Tibet. Photo: Columbia/Tristar Photo

Brad Pitt poses for a selfie with Chinese fans as he arrives at a premiere of the film Allied in Shanghai, China on November 14, 2016. Photo: AP

Was Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim, a US-Mexico co-production set in Hong Kong, really a show of Hollywood power?

A still from a scene in Hong Kong in Guillermo del Toro’s “Pacific Rim”. The film, inspired by Godzilla movies, was criticised by some in China for its geopolitical undertones, but the director argued that it was simply popcorn entertainment. Photo: Warner Bros

Charlie Hunnam (left) and Rinko Kikuchi in a still from “Pacific Rim”. Photo: Warner Bros

A still from “Pacific Rim”. Photo: Warner Bros

Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro signs posters from “Pacific Rim” in Los Angeles, California, in 2013. Photo: EPA/Michael Nelson

How US-China co-production The 355, starring Penélope Cruz, Jessica Chastain and Fan Bingbing, failed on all fronts

Jessica Chastain as Mason “Mace” Brown in a still from “The 355”, co-written and directed by Simon Kinberg.

(From left) Diane Kruger as Marie, Jessica Chastain as Mason “Mace” Brown and Lupita Nyong’o as Khadijah in a still from “The 355”, co-written and directed by Simon Kinberg. The US-China co-production, which also featured Fan Bingbing, was a box office flop.

Co-writer/director Simon Kinberg (left) and Jessica Chastain on the set of The 355.

Fan Bingbing as Lin Mi Sheng in a still from The 355, co-written and directed by Simon Kinberg.

(From left) Penélope Cruz, Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o and Diane Kruger in a still from The 355.

How Jackie Chan vehicle Skiptrace, a 2016 US-China co-production by Hollywood director Renny Harlin, put the clash in culture clash

Jackie Chan as Benny Chan and Johnny Knoxville as US gambler Connor Watts in a still from US-China co-production Skiptrace (2016). Photo: Intercontinental Film Distributors

Fan Bingbing as Samantha (left), the daughter of Jackie Chan’s partner, and Johnny Knoxville as American gambler Connor Watts (right) in a still from “Skiptrace”.

Film director Renny Harlin in Hong Kong in 2019. Photo: Edmond So

Jackie Chan as Hong Kong detective Benny Chan in a still from “Skiptrace”.

Fan Bingbing in a still from “Skiptrace”.

How Bait 3D, an Australia-Singapore shark movie co-production, became a monster hit at the Chinese box office

A still from “Bait 3D”.

Sharni Vinson (left) and Xavier Samuel in a still from “Bait 3D” (2012), which took the Chinese box office by storm.

“Bait 3D” has “the requisite mix of gore, bad CGI and ‘Jaws’ jokes”. 

Adrian Pang as Jessup in a still from “Bait 3D”.

Clean up on aisle three: a great white shark menaces shoppers in a still from “Bait 3D”.

How Disney got kicked out of China over Martin Scorsese’s Kundun, a 1997 movie that ripped a hole in US-China relations

Tulku Jamyang Kunga Tenzin is bowed to in a scene from the film &apos;Kundun&apos;, 1997. (Photo by Buena Vista/Getty Images)