The Marvels‘ disappointing start at the North American box office over the weekend — $47 million, a record low for a Marvel Studios release — is adding to analysts’ concerns that superhero fatigue is an urgent and growing problem for the major studios. But in China, filmgoers have been snubbing America’s caped crusaders for far longer — and The Marvels only marks a fresh low.

The Marvels opened to just $11.5 million in China, losing the three-day weekend to holdover local crime thriller Who’s the Suspect, which earned $11.7 million. Including Thursday night previews, The Marvels‘ four-day total creeps up to $11.8 million, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. …

Marvel’s other 2023 releases have also failed to find much traction with mainland Chinese moviegoers. Even James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — which was a success in North America with a $359 million haul — earned just $27.8 million in China, compared to $48.5 million for Guardians 2 (2017) and $86 million for Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania brought in $39.4 million in China this February, a 67 percent drop from Ant-Man and the Wasp‘s $121 million total in 2018. MCU releases from 2020 to 2022 were significantly affected by pandemic-related delays and cinema closures in China, but social scores on the country’s top ticketing apps throughout this period also began to decline.

[‘Flop’ in this case is a term of art. Many films would be considered raging successes with a $47 million opening domestic weekend, but most films don’t take the GDP of a G-20 country to produce and distribute, either. Maybe the trend in China will be enough to wean Hollywood off of Beijing’s teat and start looking for better material with less ass-kissing of the CCP within it. Here’s hoping. — Ed]