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China’s Most Expensive Movie Becomes Epic Flop


Chinese Baahubali Asura Becomes Epic Flop

  • ‘It was garbage’: China’s most expensive movie becomes an epic flop, losing US$106m.
  • With a $113-million budget, the most expensive Chinese film ever has become a flop and has been pulled from theatres on its opening weekend after bringing in only $7.3 million. 
  • Alibaba Pictures’ special effects-heavy fantasy film ‘Asura’ was to be the first in an epic trilogy. It cost 750 million yuan ($113.5 million) to make, state media said, and opened on Friday.


China’s Most Expensive Movie Becomes Epic Flop

With a US$113-million budget, the most expensive Chinese film ever made has become a flop of historic proportions, pulled from theatres on its opening weekend after bringing in a paltry US$7.3 million.


China’s Most Expensive Movie Becomes Epic Flop

Chinese Baahubali Asura Becomes Epic Flop.

Alibaba Pictures’ special effects-heavy fantasy film “Asura” was intended as the first installment in an epic trilogy inspired by Tibetan Buddhist mythology, part of a drive by authorities to promote works bearing elements of traditional Chinese culture.

Asura Trailer (2018) Fantasy Movie



China’s Most Expensive Movie Becomes Epic Flop


The film cost 750 million yuan (US$113.5 million) to make, state media said, and opened on Friday, but Chinese ticketing platform Maoyan said it only took in just over US$7.3 million at the weekend.


China’s Most Expensive Movie Becomes Epic Flop


By Sunday, the film’s official social media account posted a statement declaring that it would be removed from theatres as of 10 pm that night.

Most of China’s biggest blockbusters to date have been made with half the budget lavished on “Asura”.

The estimated loss of US$106 million would make it the fifth-biggest flop in movie history worldwide, behind frontrunner “Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas” which suffered losses of US$125 million, according to data from website Box Office Mojo.


China’s Most Expensive Movie Becomes Epic Flop


Six years in the making, the film was heavy on expensive visuals, featuring 2,400 scenes with special effects in its runtime of just 141 minutes, the paper noted.

Bankable Hong Kong actors Tony Leung Ka-fai and Carina Lau starred, while high-powered foreign talent — such as Oscar-winning Ngila Dickson, costume designer for the “Lord of the Rings” franchise — also took part.