Making Movie Magic All Over Again: “Sorcerer’s Stone” Passes $1 Billion Box Office Mark
In these trying times, we’re all looking for a little more magic. Recognizing this, China pledged back in March that a special 4K 3D remastered version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone would be there to help welcome moviegoers back to theaters once it was deemed safe to reopen them.
The decision proved to be a popular one. Upon the film’s rerelease Friday, it set a new single-day gross box office record in China’s post-COVID-19 era and then proceeded to break that record Saturday. Overall, Sorcerer’s Stone closed the weekend with $13.6 million in earnings across 16,000 screens, and today, Deadline Hollywood announced that the movie has crossed the $1 billion threshold. By comparison, upon its original release in China in 2001, Sorcerer’s Stone earned just $6.77 million.
The achievement makes the beloved inaugural film in the Potter series only the second to hit the $1 billion mark. The first was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, which earned $1.34 billion during its initial release in 2011.
As of today, the entire series has now grossed $7.77 billion.
Helping boost the significant earnings was the fact that China eased theater restrictions in many areas over the weekend from 30% to 50% capacity. More than 8,000 theaters have now been reopened in the country.
The movie has also become the third film to pass $1 billion in earnings due to a reissue, joining Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace in 2012 and Jurassic Park in 2013.
Andrew Cripps, President, International Distribution at Warner Bros. Studios, expressed his delight to Deadline:
We are thrilled to see ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ delight a new generation of audiences. The popularity of the film with moviegoers in China, who are discovering it for the first time, proves that the appeal of these stories is truly timeless and universal.
