China's most expensive film 'Asura' flops
July 17, 2018
The $113-million (€96.5-million) budget film made just over $7.3 million at the box office over its first weekend, according to Chinese ticketing platform Maoyan, before being pulled from cinemas.
"Asura," a special effects-heavy production backed by Alibaba Pictures Group, was the launch of a trilogy inspired by Tibetan Buddhist mythology. It was part of a push by authorities to promote work inspired by traditional Chinese culture.
State media had praised the film before its release, with the China Daily labeling it as: "The most hotly anticipated blockbuster of China's competitive summer season." The film took six years to complete and was heavy on expensive visuals, featuring 2,400 scenes with special effects in its runtime of just 141 minutes.
The film hit cinemas on Friday, but by Sunday the film's official social media account posted a statement saying it would be removed from theaters from 10 p.m. that night.
"It's a very imaginative movie. We wanted the film to raise confidence in our own culture and train more domestic talent," Yang Hongtao, chairman of Ningxia Film Group, one of the movie's backers, told the China Daily ahead of Friday's opening.
Questionable reviews?
In an earlier Facebook post the producers blamed the film's poor ratings on online ticket sales platforms, saying they believed they were the result of an "organized, premeditated" bid to manipulate the numbers.
On its opening day, "Asura" netted an 8.4 rating out of 10 on Alibaba-owned Tao Piaopiao, but on Maoyan, backed by Alibaba's rival tech giant Tencent, reviewers had given it just 4.9. On movie review site Douban it had only 3.1.
The team accused Maoyan of using fake, paid reviewers to post 1-star ratings to sway the film's rating, calling the alleged move "despicable, foolish, and ludicrous."
Most of China's biggest blockbusters have been made with half the amount of money which was spent on "Asura."
While "Asura," has been pulled from theaters, another film with a reported budget of around $15 million appears to have got the attention of cinema-goers.
"Dying to Survive," the real-life story of a Chinese cancer patient arrested for importing drugs from India, has made over $350 million, according to box office tracker EntGroup.
law/jm (AFP, Reuters)