Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has proved to
be a hit film at the Shanghai box office over its opening
weekend.
Since it opened on Saturday, the fifth movie installment in the
Harry Potter saga has earned 6.1 million yuan (US$792,200) in
weekend ticket sales, according to Shanghai United Cinema Lines,
the city's leading cinema chain.
"With such a large fan base in China, this epic story is
expected to make at least 20 million yuan at our chain," said Wu
Hehu, deputy director of the company.
But Wu and other local film insiders noted that the movie
wouldn't surpass live-action blockbuster Transformers,
which has already grossed about 25.9 million yuan.
So far, Yonghua Cinema has taken about 600,000 yuan from the
Harry Potter movie and sold nearly 90 percent of tickets
for the weekend's screenings.
Meanwhile, to mark the anniversary of Japan's World War II
surrender on August 15, 1945, seven local theaters will run a
special screening tomorrow at 6pm for the 82-minute documentary
Nanking, co-directed by Bill Guttentag and Dan
Sturman.
(Shanghai Daily August 14, 2007)