ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY had an approximate production budget of $200 million, according to BoxOfficeMojo. That budget increases when you account for its marketing budget which is usually a little less than the production budget. So the total production and marketing budget for ROGUE ONE is somewhere in the ballpark of $350M. That's a lot of money for Lucasfilm and Disney's first ever "standalone" Star Wars film.
So far ROGUE ONE has amassed over $615M in the worldwide box office, as of the publishing of this post. Technically, ROGUE ONE is a financial success because it is profitable. But before you have a chance to even think it wasn't as profitable of a movie the studios hoped for, you need to consider one simple fact right now. ROGUE ONE has yet to release in China.
On January 6, ROGUE ONE will finally open in China, the world's second largest movie market. When STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS opened last year in China, it's tally added over $124M to its worldwide box office total. ROGUE ONE will not get that big of a bump from its Chinese release, but at the same time don't be surprised when it does some good numbers in China... because of one man.
Donnie Yen, who brilliantly portrayed the blind Force believer Chirrut Imwe, is one of China's biggest action stars. His presence alone will most likely excite moviegoers more than for last year's The Force Awakens since he is a well-known name in the Chinese movie industry.
It will be interesting to monitor the box office impact of Yen in the China market when ROGUE ONE launches there next week.
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