Star Wars: Rogue One Gets Release Date for Second-Biggest Movie Market in the World

Star Wars: Rogue One has secured a release in China, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The sci-fi spinoff will come out on January 6, 2017 in the country, which is a few weeks after the movie debuts in the United States and other parts of the world on December 16.

Launching in a China is a big deal, THR notes, because it's the second-largest market for movies in the world, behind the US. One recent example of how a Chinese release can buoy a film's box office haul was the video game movie Warcraft. It did poorly domestically, but a strong showing in China helped it bring in more than $430 million worldwide.

2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens also came to China, launching in there in early January 2016. The film ended up making $125.4 million at the Chinese box office, compared to $936 million in the US. As THR explains, the Star Wars series does not do historically do as well in China.

In an effort to change this, THR explains that Disney launched a local marketing blitz that included a poster for the film with its Chinese stars, Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen, up front. Go to THR to see the poster.

The movie is expected to make around $130 million during its opening weekend in the US, which would be the second-highest December opening ever, only behind The Force Awakens. Overall, Rogue One is not projected to make as much as The Force Awakens, which is no surprise given it's a spinoff. The Force Awakens ($2.07 billion) stands as the third-biggest movie in history, behind Titanic ($2.18 billion) and Avatar ($2.78 billion).

Rogue One is directed by Godzilla's Gareth Edwards. Earlier this week, Lucasfilm released a new video for the movie that introduces viewers to main character Jyn Erso, who is played by Felicity Jones. Another new video showed off Darth Vader and Stormtrooper battles on the tropical planet of Scarif.

While you have to wait a bit longer to see Rogue One, you can pick up Star Wars: Battlefront's tie-in DLC, Rogue One: Scarif, right now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The DLC features four maps set on Scarif and adds Jyn Erso and Orson Krennic as playable characters.