In the ongoing tense atmosphere between China and Japan, a mainland film distributor arranged for the re-release of the Taiwanese epic film “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale,” promoting it as a “fight against Japanese aggression.” However, reality dealt a heavy blow as the box office performance on the first day of the re-release turned out to be dismal. The total revenue for both parts amounted to only about 600,000 yuan (RMB) with an attendance rate as low as approximately 1%. Netizens commented that the attempt to boost box office earnings through nationalistic sentiments ultimately backfired.
Public data shows that “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale” had over ten thousand screenings in China, yet its actual box office share was only around 0.2%.
The edited version combining both parts of “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale” was previously released in China on May 10, 2012, with a total runtime of 153 minutes, garnering 16.52 million yuan in box office revenue at the time.
In contrast, the current re-release features the complete versions of both parts screened separately.
However, the first part of “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale” premiered on December 12th with a disappointing box office intake of just 564,000 yuan and an audience occupancy of less than 1%.
After actually watching the film in theaters, many Chinese netizens shared awkward experiences on social media, describing empty movie halls. A netizen from Dongguan, Guangdong, commented, “I bought the only two tickets in the entire theater.”
According to the real-time box office statistics from the platform “Maoyan Professional Edition,” by around 6 pm on the 12th, the first part of “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale” had earned 583,000 yuan in box office revenue on that day, with an occupancy rate of 1.5%, ranking 7th in box office revenue with a total of 1.147 million yuan.
The second part of “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale” premiered on December 13th, and by around 6 pm that day, it had earned 546,000 yuan in box office revenue with an occupancy rate of 1.2%, ranking 8th in box office revenue. The combined revenue of both parts on the first day was less than one-fourteenth of the total box office earnings back in 2012.
The promotional tactics employed for this re-release also sparked controversy. The movie posters and promotional materials prominently featured slogans with strong political undertones such as “commemorating the 80th anniversary of the restoration of Taiwan,” “fighting against the Japanese invaders,” and “crushing the militaristic ambitions of Japan.” The mainland Chinese promotion even packaged the film as a “highly acclaimed anti-Japanese masterpiece from China and Taiwan.” The original work, which focused on indigenous culture, beliefs, and historical trauma, was deliberately simplified into a singular “anti-Japanese theme,” which is believed by many to be one of the significant reasons for its box office failure.