“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” opens
in the world’s second biggest box-office market this weekend: China. Disney,
like every other studio, wants their films to be successful in that market.
Because the Chinese government limits the number of foreign films that can be
imported into its country each year, studios often go to drastic measures to
ensure that they are even allowed into the market.
If you want to see the lengths that
Disney will kowtow to the Chinese film market, look no further than Iron Man 3.
When I saw Iron Man 3 in Chinese cinemas, I was surprised to see that there was
an entire Chinese subplot written into the film especially for Chinese
audiences. This subplot was only available to Chinese movie-goers. The scenes
include a doctor named “Mr. Wu” who only appears briefly in the
American version of the film. In these scenes Mr. Wu and a nurse speak to each other entirely in Chinese, with no English subtitles. They also managed to squeeze in a somewhat overt
product placement for Chinese milk.
Zootopia is another example of how
Disney is giving nods to other film markets. A moose news anchor, Peter
Moosebrige (voiced by news-anchor Peter Mansbridge), is present in the US and
Canadian version of the film, but jump to China and the news anchor is a Panda
bear. Jump to Australia and it’s a Koala. Brazil- a Jaguar. Japan- a Tanuki.
Now what does this all have to do
with Star Wars? Enter Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus. It is no coincidence that
two Chinese characters play a big roll in Rogue One. Disney did not just cast
actors of Chinese decent to play this duo, Disney made sure to cast two giant
names from the China film industry. Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen are indeed famous actors
in China, but they are also both very well known directors there as well.
Donnie Yen’s character, Chirrut
Imwe, isn’t just a diverse face. The character is directly inspired by Asian
culture. He carries a staff and is the first cinematic Star Wars character to
practice martial arts. I think this proves Disney’s intentions to appeal to the
Chinese audience.
So how should we feel about the
Chinese-ification of the Star Wars universe? Pretty good, actually. Star Wars
will need an Asian audience to succeed in the years ahead. Disney can’t pump out
one Star Wars film a year for the next several decades unless you have the
Chinese market on your side. And besides, Star Wars is a diverse universe. The
films have always featured humans, aliens, droids, cyborgs, and monsters. The
story is accessible to everyone, and everyone should be included.
As Rogue One opens in China this weekend Disney will
watching carefully. If it can overcome
the lackluster performance of “The Force Awakens” in that country, it could spell good news for the House of Mouse. It could also mean that their inclusion of
famous Chinese actors paid off.
