VOA慢速英语2016 电影《魔兽》打破中国电影票房记录

'Warcraft' Movie Breaks Chinese Box Office Records 电影《魔兽》打破中国电影票房记录

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今日时事热点。

Most movie industry experts do not expect the film version of the multiplayer video game “World of Warcraft” to be a big hit in the United States. But “Warcraft” is already breaking records in China.

多数电影专家对由多人游戏改编的电影《魔兽世界》火爆美国并未抱多大期望。然而，《魔兽》在中国的票房已经破纪录。

The movie opened there on June 8. It reportedly earned more than $45 million in its first day, the biggest opening day for the Chinese movie market this year.

电影于6月8日在中国上映。据称，《魔兽》上映首日就打破今年中国电影市场的首映记录，票房收益高达4500万美元。

By comparison, the latest "Star Wars" film, “The Force Awakens,” earned $33 million in China on its opening day.

而最近的星球大战电影《原力觉醒》在中国的首映票房为3300万美元。

Film critics have not been kind to the “Warcraft” movie. One critic for the New York Daily News wrote, “Somebody should have put this script to the sword.”

影评专家对《魔兽》的评价并不高。纽约每日新闻一名评论员说道：“应该把这么烂的剧本撕碎。”

But criticism has not hurt the film’s performance in China, the world’s fast-growing movie market.

但是这些负面评论并未影响这部电影在中国的票房，中国电影市场在全球发展态势最为迅猛。

“Warcraft” earned the second-largest one-day profit ever in China, Forbes magazine reported.

据《福布斯》报道，《魔兽》在中国首映票房排名第二。

One reason is the popularity of the fantasy video game in China. Although World of Warcraft reported its lowest number of players in 10 years in 2015, one-third of the game’s subscribers were in China, Forbes said. The country even has a World of Warcraft theme park.

因为这款虚幻的电子游戏在中国非常受欢迎。据报道，2015年是魔兽世界10年来游戏玩家数量最少的一年， 但仍有三分之一的玩家来自中国。《福布斯》报道，中国还有一个魔兽世界的主题公园。

“Warcraft” was released by Universal Pictures and Legendary¹ Pictures, which was recently bought by China’s Dalian Wanda Group. The deal was announced in January. The Wall Street Journal reported then that it marked the largest deal by a Chinese company in American film production.

《魔兽》是由环球影视公司和传奇电影公司联合出品，而传奇电影公司近期被中国大连万达公司收购。收购消息在今年1月份已公布。《华尔街日报》称，这创下了中国公司收购美国电影公司最大记录。

“Warcraft” was shown on almost 70 percent of all movie screens in the country. That is China’s widest film release ever, according to Deadline.com.

《魔兽》在70%的中国影院上映。 Deadline.com网站显示：这是中国放映规模最大的一次。

“Warcraft” opens in U.S. theaters on June 10. Observers expect it to earn about $25 million on its opening weekend. That is well below the film’s single-day earnings² in China.

《魔兽》6月10日在美国影院上映。预计首周末票房可以达到2500万美元。这远远低于《魔兽》在中国的首日票房成绩。

Words in This Story

multiplayer -- adj. related to a computer game designed for or involving several players

sword -- n. a weapon with a long metal blade that has a sharp point and edge

fantasy -- adj. a book, movie, game, etc., that tells a story about things that happen in an imaginary world

subscribers -- n. people who pay to join a service, group or club

theme park -- n. a park with games, rides and entertainment based on one idea, like Disney World

screen -- n. a large, flat, white surface on which images or movies are shown

1 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

2 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。