China’s big-budget fantasy film, Asura, has been pulled from cinemas after a terrible opening weekend.
The film reportedly did not make up to 50m yuan ($7m) on its weekend debut after a 750m yuan ($112m) budget.
Asura’s plot is based on Chinese mythology and featured leading actors and flashy special effects.
Producers are reportedly planning to rework the movie and release it again at a later date. Unless the film gets better turnout in the second release, Asura’s $105m loss would make it one of the biggest flops in movie history.
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Before its release, the film was praised by the media, it was called the “most hotly anticipated blockbuster of China’s competitive summer season.” During the three days it was showing in cinemas, it received an abysmal rating on Chinese film review site, Douban.
Apparently, the plan for Asura was to kick off as a major fantasy franchise akin to Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones.
