'Warcraft' Could Be China's Biggest-Ever Hollywood Import And A Key Win In Wanda-Disney Rivalry

"Warcraft," a fantasy epic based on the popular video game series, is opening in China next weekend, and it may already spell "game over" for any movie that dares to compete with it. The little-hyped movie, produced by Legendary Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures, may not even clear 100 million in the U.S. And yet, based on the reliable proxy of internet presales, it is on pace to top "Furious 7" as the highest-grossing Hollywood film ever in China. Either way, it will be a nice win for Legendary's parent company -- the Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group -- in its burgeoning rivalry with the Walt Disney Company, whose movies have dominated Middle Kingdom multiplexes for months. Chinese film fans love Disney's animated fare and its Marvel superhero movies, but based on presale numbers for "Warcraft," they might love video games more. Despite being released in just 20 countries so far -- mostly in Europe -- "Warcraft has already reeled in about 31.6 million, according to comScore.