Recently “Avatar” was re-released in China and the recent release has already outperformed the new live-action “Mulan” film that Disney released last year.

So far the Chinese re-release of “Avatar” has grossed $44 million in two weeks and has passed the entire “Mulan” theatrical gross of $41 million in China.

This was after Disney apparently went out of their way to make sure the live-action “Mulan” was created with the Chinese audience in mind. Even going as far as to delete a kissing scene that their Chinese consultants told them to cut in order to better appeal to their market.

Even after all the work Disney did to accommodate and tailor the film to the Chinese box office, the film fell short and landed with a thud in China. It came in far below the box office expectations for the country. It only released as “Premier Access” in the United States.

Now “Avatar” has out performed “Mulan” in two weeks and it was a popular film in China since it’s release in 2009.  It’s just an interesting observation given how much Disney pandered to China for the film and even came under fire in the United States for the reveal that they filmed in the Xinjiang province and even thanked a government security agency in the area. This area is thought to be where about one million people are being detained

Ultimately Disney wins no matter what as they own the ‘Avatar’ franchise as well. They are most likely re-releasing the film to make sure it out performs “Avengers: End Game” because they have several “Avatar” sequels coming soon.  Just like they re-released “Avengers: End Game” to make sure it out performed “Avatar” when they were promoting the MCU.

It will be interesting to see how well the 12 year old film performs in the re-release, but it’s interesting that it already outperformed a film made with that audience in mind.  Maybe just make good films with good characters that appeal to people in general?

What do you think? Comment and let us know.

Sources: The Wrap, BBC, Fortune