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The 3D, 4K restoration of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," the first movie in the popular Harry Potter series, has topped China's box-office chart since it was released on Friday.
The movie nabbed over 94.89 million yuan (13.56 million U.S. dollars) at the box office, far ahead of the second-place movie with 22.5 million yuan, according to the latest statistics, updated Monday, on China Movie Data Information Network.
The result came as China's film industry, scarred by the COVID-19 epidemic, is gradually recovering, with more movie theaters allowed to reopen after months-long closure and blockbusters such as Christopher Nolan's latest sci-fi action feature film "Tenet" set to hit the country's cinemas.
"It's quite an amazing experience, watching this familiar, magical movie in the theater with so many children," said Xu Jianan, a 24-year-old resident of the city of Yantai, in east China's Shandong Province.
For Xu, the Harry Potter series, written by much-loved British novelist J.K. Rowling, fills many of his childhood memories, and as the movie returns to the screen, he did not hesitate to buy a ticket.
"The movie opens the door to a magical world for many," Xu said.
The film saw an occupancy rate of over 70 percent at the Palace Cinema, a movie theater in Jinan, capital of Shandong Province, with most of the audience being teenagers, according to manager Dong Wenxin.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone tells the adventure of young Harry Potter, who receives an invitation from a school of magic called Hogwarts, unexpectedly discovers his talent for witchcraft and fights with his friends against the dark forces at the school.
The film was released in cinemas worldwide in November 2001 and premiered in China in January 2002. It grossed nearly 980 million U.S. dollars at the box office worldwide, making it the year's highest-grossing film.
As of Monday afternoon, the hashtag for the re-issue of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone had earned 270 million views on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo. Many Chinese netizens took to social media to share their feelings about the movie.
"It's the first movie I watched with my parents in the cinema, and the views on justice, love and friendship expressed in the film had a great impact on my life," read a comment by a netizen named "World's best Songyi".
The 19-year-old movie also strikes a nostalgic chord for many viewers.
"As a Harry Potter fan, I feel completely differently watching the movie in my 30s," said a woman surnamed Yang, after watching the film. "When the opening music started to play, I teared up, because I had missed this familiar piece from my childhood memories."
