The Last Witch Hunter hits mainland screens

A screen shot from The Last Witch Hunter. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Nearly three months after its North American release, Vin Diesel's fantasy thriller The Last Witch Hunter has hit screens on the mainland.

Diesel has become one of the most well-known Hollywood stars in China for Fast and Furious 7 — the highest-grossing foreign title in China of all time — but industry sources are not optimistic about his new movie.

Their estimates are based on its poor reception, in terms of both box office and reviews.

The Lionsgate and Summit coproduction, which cost $90 million grossed only $27.4 million in its home market since it was premiered on Oct 23, according to the tracker site boxofficemojo.com.

With a low to 16 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a mediocre 6.1 out of 10 on IMDb, the film find it hard to spark interest among Chinese moviegoers.

Diesel, who was to visit the mainland, didn't show up for the film's Beijing promotional event on Jan 8. The Chinese distributors say that Diesel, who is also one of the film's producers, is now busy with a new title.

In a trailer tailored for the mainland, Diesel greeted Chinese fans with "Happy New Year" in Mandarin.

Despite the movie being classified as PG-13 in the United States, which means that it is not suitable for children under 13, the Chinese examiners have not cut anything from the original version, domestic media reported.

Despite the poor reviews, there is something for digital effect lovers.

Several battle scenes involving humans and witches have won critical acclaim.

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