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Image Source: Visual China

BEIJING, May 12 (TMTPOST) — Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek said on a post-earnings conference call that Disney’s movies will still perform well without box office contribution from the Chinese market.

Chapek’s comment has drawn massive criticism in China as netizens believe that he is looking down on the Chinese market. Some netizens on Weibo have accused Disney of disrespecting China as they perceive Chapek’s comment as an attack on the Chinese market.

“This is funny. They made a lot of money in China and now they are making fun of us?” One user on Weibo wrote.

However, there are also users on Weibo who pointed out that some media in China misinterpreted Chapek’s comment and that Chapek did not say anything malicious about China.

It is worth noting that many news reports and relevant information in short video form only claim that Disney CEO said “Disney could do fine without China” without providing the full context of Chapek’s comment. Many netizens on Weibo pointed out the lack of detailed information led to the misunderstanding.

On the post-earnings conference call, Chapek noted that Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness had just crossed the $500 million mark in less than a week even without China, which hasn’t released a Marvel movie since Avengers: Endgame in 2019.

“We’ve got a long track record of success and a strong fan base for our brands and franchises in this market,” he told Wall Street on a post-earnings conference call, in response to a question. “We’ll continue to submit our films for release. And it is worth noting, I think, though, that at the time that we are having some difficulty in getting our films in China, that Doctor Strange did extraordinarily well.”

“So we’re pretty confident that even without China, if it were to be that we continue to have difficulties in getting titles in there, that it doesn’t really preclude our success given the relatively lower take rate that we get on the box office in China than we do across the rest of the world.”

Chapek did not make any comment that indicates the Chinese market is not important for Disney and noted that the company would continue to push for its movies to enter the Chinese market.