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WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE GLOBAL CINEMA INDUSTRY?
As our industry continues to become global in nature, there are bound to be more success stories like the one that is currently playing out with Dangal, an inspirational film from India about a man who trains his daughters to become medal-winning wrestlers.
>> Dangal is only the fifth non-Hollywood release to earn more than $300 million worldwide. (The other titles to hit that plateau are The Mermaid and Monster Hunt from China, The Intouchables from France, and Your Name from Japan.) The surprising part is that Dangal achieved its record-setting success thanks to an expectation-defying run in China, where it has grossed more than $170 million.
Dangal is a huge word-of-mouth success in the Middle Kingdom: the inspirational flick took in only $2.1 million on its first day, which means it has delivered a record-setting 85-times multiple on its debut. To put that into perspective, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 opened on the same day as Dangal to mostly positive audience feedback and it posted a $14.1 million opening day gross en route to a $95 million cume-or roughly six times its opening.
In China, websites such as Douban and Mtime, as well as the widely used messaging app WeChat, allow moviegoers to rate and discuss films. The...