Will the Force be with China?

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will be shown on the Chinese mainland from Jan 6. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Most industry watchers see the addition of Chinese elements as a strategy of Disney to change Star Wars' gloomy track record in China.

In January, the seventh Star Wars film, The Force Awakens, was released across the country but ended with a lackluster performance.

"Some insiders predicted The Force Awakens would surpass 2 billion yuan ($286 million), but it stopped at 826 million yuan," recalls Jiang Yong, a Beijing-based industry watcher.

January's movie ticket sales saw a year-on-year rise of nearly 48 percent－the peak of China's box office bonanza. Most of Hollywood blockbusters easily surpassed the benchmark of 1 billion yuan during that period of rapid growth.

Many earned much more, such as Fast & Furious 7 at 2.4 billion yuan and Transformers: Age of Extinction at nearly 2 billion yuan.

However, a look back finds the Force seemingly not being with Star Wars films in the Middle Kingdom over the decades.

Unlike most movie markets, which have been excited about the sci-fi franchise during the past 40 years, China has shown less enthusiasm.

The Star Wars prequels－the original trilogy was not released on the Chinese mainland－earned only 141million yuan here between 1999 and 2005.

Most analysts believe that the Star Wars prequels came too early to catch the golden phase, as China's box-office boom and Chinese moviegoers' passion for the big screen began growing in 2009.