Warcraft 2 to be exclusively for China?

Warcraft may have struggled domestically, but it broke records in China, becoming a huge success overseas. And now with a sequel announced, it looks likely that Legendary Studios may make the film specifically for a Chinese market.

Duncan Jones’ Warcraft pulled in $220.8 million in China compared to just $47 million in the US. The big-budgeted fantasy film also smashed the record in China for a midnight opening by grossing 55.4 million Yan (£5.7 million) on its debut.

The Chinese success has ultimately lead to the announcement of a sequel but it’s been suggested that the follow-up film may not get a theatrical release in the US.

Sky Moore, who worked on several U.S.-China co-production deals, told The Wrap that the film may be a much more Chinese production:

“Who says it needs to have American actors? I would suspect that the sequel would be more China-centric. It’s very possible it wouldn’t be released here [in the United States].”

Moore also said that people should “expect more remakes in China of movies that did well there and not-so-well here. It’s a big enough market.”

Jackie Chan recently said that the Chinese success of the film will have “scared the Americans”.

Chan told Shanghai International Film Festival:

“Warcraft made 600 million RMB ($91 million) in two days – this has scared the Americans,”

“If we can make a film that earns 10 billion ($1.5 billion), then people from all over the world who study film will learn Chinese, instead of us learning English.”

“We hope the Chinese film industry gets even more powerful.”

So no official confirmation on whether the Warcraft sequel will fully take the Chinese route but we’ll be sure to keep you updated. A release date is also yet to be announced.