Why 'Warcraft' Is Not The Future Of Hollywood Blockbusters, Despite China-US Box Office Split

"Warcraft," the critically panned video game-inspired film from Legendary Entertainment, made more than six times as much money in China as it did in the U.S. during its opening weekend, and it had observers including Jackie Chan saying it could be the harbinger of a new age in blockbuster filmmaking. That's undoubtedly a historic split for a Hollywood film -- although it's not unusual for a movie to make more in China than at home -- and certainly something that could happen more as China's rapidly growing box office catches up with the U.S. Rather, "Warcraft" is just a movie with several unique factors that gave it a much bigger potential audience in China than anywhere else. The world is big, interests are regional, and Chinese companies have certain competitive (or anticompetitive) advantages that Hollywood studios don't, like a restriction on foreign competition and the ability to own theater chains. As a result of such factors, "Warcraft" blew the doors down in China, but it didn't really blaze a trail that too many other movies could realistically follow. China is a nearly 8 billion -- and growing -- movie market with only 34 slots for Western films, so naturally Hollywood is going to produce its megabudget blockbusters with that in mind, taking steps not to offend the Chinese state censors that have to approve every imported film.