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Disney Is Releasing 40 Translated ‘Star Wars’ Novels For Chinese Readers

This article is more than 4 years old.

Disney wants to bulk up its Star Wars fan base in China. To that end, it’s partnering with Tencent's digital reading platform China Literature to distribute 40 translated Star Wars novels, along with a brand-new novel that will be the first original Chinese book set in the Star Wars universe.

The licensing deal is a first of its kind, and is likely a move from Disney to start building up more franchise interest from a country that hasn’t been all that interested in the Disney Star Wars film franchise to date – The Force Awakens, Rogue One, and The Last Jedi showed a pretty strong downward box office trend in China, topped out at $124 million, $69 million, and $42.5 million, respectively. Further evidence that Disney’s looking to stir up some grassroots fandom is the report, out from the Hollywood Reporter, that Disney itself intiated the talks that led to the deal with China Literature.

The move underscores a big problem for Star Wars as a huge franchise brand: It’s far more popular in North America thanks to 42 years of franchise nostalgia and good will that’s frankly impossible to perfectly replicate. In that sense, Disney’s decision to start pushing dozens of Star Wars novels on potential Chinese fans is unlikely to move the needle.

But the new partnership isn’t a bad move. Disney definitely picked the right format: Books are a great way to capture audience’s imaginations without the hefty special effects budget that would accompany a film or TV show.

In addition, China Literature’s 217.1 million monthly active users makes it a relatively effective channel to get Star Wars books in front of interested audiences.

The 40 licensed Star Wars titles will include a few classics, most noteably Timothy Zahn's "Thrawn" trilogy from the now non-canonical extended universe. And the new Chinese Star Wars novel will come from a popular in-house writer for China Literature, ensuring a little name-recognition that might stir up additional interest.

Audiences in China didn’t grow up with Star Wars woven into the fabric of their pop culture, largely thanks to the original trilogy’s strictly domestic runs in the 1970s and 1980s. Disney’s attempting to jumpstart that pop culture recognition through its deal with China Literature. It’ll be a long haul, but starting with a raft of Star Wars novels is a great way to begin engaging some of the most dedicated pop culture nerds around: Book lovers.

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