"The Great Wall" Flopped. Why?

Before its release, the Universal-China Film Group collaboration The Great Wall was being hailed as the first in a new line of movies produced in a joint venture between Hollywood and Chinese filmmakers. The more excitable among movie watchers and film critics were discussing how the movie was an important milestone in China’s growth as an entertainment powerhouse, and that the country’s film industry would soon overtake that of America’s.

And then The Great Wall collapsed at the box office, losing over $75 million and being declared a box office disaster, based mainly on its abysmal performance in North America (though it also had a disappointing run in China). Word is that, even with Hollywood’s hunger for international collaboration, any similar major deals are dead for the time being.

What happened, after the studios went all-in on the project, from extensive advertising to casting Matt Damon in an obvious attempt to appeal to the U.S. market? The popular critical reaction is basically what you’d expect: bad reviews. And, even though I haven’t seen the movie, I can tell from the trailers that I really don’t want to. It seems like pretty standard boilerplate fare, the kind of story that’s been done a thousand different ways by this point, with no indication that there’s any sort of new and exciting twist.

But I have another theory, one unrelated to either bad reviews or the troubles inherent with American-Chinese film collaborations (government censorship being prime among them). Promotion for the film ramped up in earnest during October, the heat of the presidential campaign, and it was released in North America soon after President Trump’s inauguration. Is it too much to believe that many prospective moviegoers heard the title, immediately thought of another “great wall” currently in the news, and said, “I’ve had enough of politics. Let’s just stay home.”

Obviously, an unfortunately timed name can’t account for a full $75 million in losses. But it could easily have been a contributing factor, especially considering the movie industry’s well-known liberal leanings and tendency for inserting those leanings as allegory into film. And, for all I know, these hypothetical movie goers could be right—although it really doesn’t matter. Perception, in this case, creates reality.

If Hollywood wants to avoid such a potential problem in the future, there’s an easy solution: Make your brand entertainment again, rather than self-righteous preaching, and people will follow.