‘Harry Potter’ Rerelease Opens in Second Place

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” took second place at the mainland China box office over the latest weekend, leading off a season of re-releases that will encompass the full “Harry Potter” franchise.

The weekend’s top-ranked film was “The Volunteers: The Battle of Life and Death” which took RMB77.4 million ($10.9 million) in its second full weekend in Chinese theaters, according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway. Since releasing on Sept. 30, in time to capture the full National Day holiday period, the Chen Kaige-directed film has earned $139 million. The film is the second part of a three-film set that kicked off this time last year with “The Volunteers: To the War.”

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” earned $6.6 million. Warner Bros. Pictures, the studio behind the franchise, said that the films will pay in some 3,400 theaters across 295 cities in China and that they will be available in standard 2D versions as well as multiple premium formats, including in CINITY/IMAX/Dolby Cinema. Over the latest weekend, Imax reported that its screens in China accounted of $1.8 million of the film’s weekend total.

The “Harry Potter” films were produced between 2001 and 2011, at a time when multiplexes were new to China and the country’s production, distribution and exhibition sectors were all evolving rapidly. That makes box office comparisons largely meaningless. The seven other titles will drop on a weekly basis through October and November.

Chinese crime drama, “Tiger Wolf Rabbit” placed third over the weekend with $4.1 million. Its cumulative now stands at $58 million, since releasing on Oct. 1.

Andy Lau-starring, “High Forces” held on to fourth place and earned $3.6 million. Its cumulative stands at $33 million since releasing on Sept. 30.

Jackie Chan-starring “Panda Plan” fell from third place to fifth. It earned $3.0 million for a cumulative of $34.9 million since releasing on Oct. 1.