Warcraft breaks box office records

Warcraft: The Beginning may be set to flop at the US box office, but it’s broken new records elsewhere. The big-budgeted fantasy film smashed the record in China for a midnight opening by grossing 55.4 million Yan (£5.7 million) in its opening night.

According to China Film Insider‘s analyst Jonathan Papist, Warcraft has overtaken the record from Furious 7 – which is the country’s highest-grossing film of all time:

WARCRAFT earned est. ¥55.4M ($8.4M) from Tuesday midnight screenings, tops Furious 7's all-time midnight record. pic.twitter.com/WHNLigfaF5

— China Box Office (@ChinaBoxOffice) June 7, 2016

The film is still however expected to do poorly domestically as Variety reports that it will struggle at the US box office with an estimated $25 million opening weekend, which is much lower than they hoped, considering the $160 million budget.

Directed by Duncan Jones and starring the likes of Travis Fimmel, Dominic Cooper and Ruth Negga, the video-game adaptation is described as being “set in the peaceful realm of Azeroth, which stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of Orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another.”

Warcraft: The Beginning is out now in the UK and hits US screens tomorrow.