The weekend international box office was highlighted by a strong weekend for a “Harry Potter” re-release in China and the reopening of movie theaters in Canada in advance of the release of “Tenet” in two weeks.
In China, a 3D re-release of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” led the box office with $13.6 million on 16,000 screens, including $2.1 million on IMAX screens. The 2001 family film accounted for 17% of all weekend grosses and 70% of IMAX’s $3 million global gross.
China also saw the release of Columbia Pictures’ “Bad Boys for Life,” which earned over $400 million at the global box office back in January but was unable to open in Chinese theaters due to the pandemic. The Will Smith film made $3.2 million this weekend, bringing its global total to $426 million. Warner Bros.’ re-release of “Interstellar” added $1.7 million this weekend, bringing its total for this current run in China to $16.1 million.
Aside from “Potter,” most of the rest of IMAX’s grosses came from a 10th-anniversary re-release of Christopher Nolan’s “Inception,” which included sneak peek footage of “Tenet.” The film made $640,000 on IMAX screens and $1.6 million on 2,850 screens worldwide.
In Canada, two films were released wide this weekend: Paramount’s “The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run” and the indie thriller “Unhinged,” which is distributed by VVS in Canadian cinemas. Both films grossed less than $1 million, with “Spongebob” taking in $900,000 from 300 screens and “Unhinged” taking $582,000 from 271 screens.
So far, 1,386 screens have reopened in North America with 316 being drive-ins, according to Comscore estimates. That number will significantly increase in the coming weeks as major chains like AMC begin plans to steadily bring their circuits back online, starting with “Unhinged” and the “Inception” anniversary edition hitting theaters. “Tenet” will hit overseas markets on August 26 and release in U.S. theaters a week later.