There is one country in the world where the words “Star Wars” don’t mean much — China. The first film in the original trilogy only had its official premiere in the country in 2015, and that was part of the push to promote “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” The marketing stunt worked, as J.J. Abrams‘ franchise relaunch earned $124 million in the country, but it has been diminishing returns ever since. “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” only managed $69 million, and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” has done even worse with $41 million. However, it looks like Disney a different approach with “Solo: A Star Wars Story.”
The studio is reportedly retitling the movie for the Chinese market as “Ranger Solo.” That’s it. Not a single mention of “Star Wars.” The move sort of makes sense, given that Chinese audiences don’t have the same attachment to the brand as those in other parts of the world. But it’s also a bit silly given that ‘Solo’ revolves around one of the franchise’s most iconic and beloved characters, albeit in an origin story of sorts.
According to local media Mtime, Official Chinese title of Solo: A Star Wars Story is Ranger Solo(游侠索罗). And STAR WARS(星球大战) is abandoned in Solo’s local title after Star Wars: The Last Jedi flopped in China. pic.twitter.com/FsOTZcxENW
— Gavin Feng (@weier1231997) January 26, 2018
Whether or not the move will pay off remains to be seen, but unless the marketing is truly taking a different path, it’ll be hard to hide ‘Solo’ is yet another movie taking place in a galaxy far, far away that Chinese moviegoers don’t seem all that interested in exploring.
“Solo: A Star Wars Story” apparently still opens on May 25th. [io9]