'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Ticket Pre-Sales Picking Up in China

It seemed as though the latest installment in the Star Wars saga wasn't going to catch on in the People's Republic of China, but ticket pre-sales have grown immensely in the last day.

According a report from Forbes, advance ticket sales for Star Wars: The Last Jedi sat at around 1.7 million RMB, or yuan. Today that number grew to over 3 million.

In comparison, Thor: Ragnarok had about ￥2.15 million in advance sales, while Justice League had ￥3.05 million. Thor went on to gross $51.8 million in its opening weekend, totaling $105 million (￥743.3 million) in its lifetime run in the Middle Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Justice League opened to $49.3 million, totaling $103 million over its lifetime run in China.

Based on those numbers, Star Wars: The Last Jedi could be in for similar earnings during its run in Chinese box offices.

Of course, pre-sale tickets are not a clear indicator of a film's success, and word of mouth could affect the movie's performance. Star Wars: The Last Jedi has proven divisive among audiences — though critics have hailed it as being among the best installments in the franchise, fans have not been as kind to Rian Johnson's take.

But as the Forbes report states, China is a unique area for cinema and often surprises analysts. Disney Pixar films don't tend to do well, while Coco turned in an impressive $175 million over its lifetime run. This surprised many who thought the film about ghosts wouldn't garner huge numbers.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens hauled in $124 million during its run in the Middle Kingdom, while Rogue One only took in $69 million. With five days until the movie premieres, it seems like The Last Jedi could go either way.

Regardless, the film is still a box office smash and will likely be the number one film of the year before 2017 is even over.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is now playing in theaters.