The next movie in the DCEU will be released in the China a full two weeks before it will be available for American audiences. Other WB movies such as Fantastic Beasts, The Nutcracker And The Four Realms, and Ralph Breaks The Internet will also feature earlier release dates in China.
If you simply can’t wait for Aquaman to be released here in the US come December there is something you can do… you can book a ticket for China and catch the movie on December 7th there instead of waiting for the 21st to roll around in the US.
As part of a series of films that will be released in China before the US, Warner Bros is hoping to gain more box office revenue from the second biggest movie market in the world by releasing there first. For the most part, China has been very kind to the DCEU with better than expected returns on its movies like Justice League and Batman v. Superman.
Although it seems like most movie studios are pivoting towards a large Chinese movie market, for the most part the studios aren’t receiving that much money in return because the yuan (Chinese currency) is weak compared to the US dollar. So although you might sell more tickets in China, you need to sell more of those tickets to make up for any kind of shortcomings in the US market.
With that said, Warner Bros will no doubt be looking at how their movies perform in China and other overseas markets and will continue to look for ways to tap into those possible revenue streams. In the meantime, you will probably have to watch yourself online in order to avoid spoilers come December.
