‘Star Wars’ struggles in a country far, far away: China

While Star Wars fans from around the world waited in line for days to catch The Rise of Skywalker, the sci-fi series has struggled to woo film-goers in the increasingly important Chinese market.

Special previews of the long-awaited Star Wars film in Beijing last week drew just a handful of fans.

A Beijing bar hosted a screening  Tuesday last week of previous Star Wars films ahead of Friday’s China release — but the special room was mostly empty.

By the time Chinese audiences were introduced to the franchise, “the technology seemed old,” a fan from a Beijing-based science fiction reading group, told AFP.