Despite Star Wars: The Last Jedi passing the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office, the film has flopped so hard in China – the world's second-largest film market – that it's been pulled from cinemas.

The Last Jedi's debut of $28.7 million in China plummeted to just $2.4 million in its second weekend, meaning it could finish in the country with less than $50 million.

The Force Awakens earned $124 million in China in 2016, while last year's spinoff Rogue One got $69 million in 2017.

Lucasfilm

"The Last Jedi has already been completely pulled from cinemas here," Jimmy Wu, chairman of nationwide Chinese cinema chain Lumiere Pavilions, told The Hollywood Reporter. "It's performed much worse than we could have expected."

James Li, co-founder of Beijing-based market research firm Fanink, also explained: "Because of the complex characters and themes, the prequels, and all of the multi-generational layers that are part of the culture, or cult, of Star Wars, it's been hard for young Chinese filmgoers to get into the franchise."

Wu added: "Star Wars has no legacy here. It will require something fresh to win back the Chinese audience."

Lucasfilm

Still, The Last Jedi is now officially the 10th highest-grossing movie of all time – pushing last year's Disney hit Beauty and the Beast out of the top 10 – with its takings of almost $1.3 billion.

Of course, it's still languishing behind its predecessor, The Force Awakens, which is the third highest-grossing movie of all time having taken more than $2 billion.

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