LOS ANGELES:

“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” lead the foreign box office with a massive $191 million. The “Harry Potter” prequel series launched in North America with $62 million for a global weekend haul of $253 million.

The Wizarding World installment needs to do well overseas to justify its costly $200 million budget and make up for a potentially lackluster domestic performance. While its North American debut has stalled compared to its predecessor, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”, the follow-up has already seen a stronger showing from overseas markets.

“Crimes of Grindelwald” saw the best showing in China with $37.5 million from 20,000 screens. In the United Kingdom, it earned $16.3 million, followed by Germany with $12.8 million and Russia with $12.1 million.

“The Crimes of Grindelwald” is the second entry in what Warner Bros intends to be a five-film franchise from the mind of author J.K. Rowling. David Yates returned to direct the sequel, which stars Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Johnny Depp, Ezra Miller, and Zoe Kravitz. (RTRS)

LOS ANGELES:

“Venom” enjoyed a spectacular $87 million second weekend at the Chinese box office. That was almost double the opening score by “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” in the Middle Kingdom.

According to data that excludes online ticket fees, supplied by Asian theatrical industry consultant Artisan Gateway, “Venom” scored $87.2 million, a drop of just 14%. Its 10-day cumulative score is $187 million.

That figure is claimed to be the highest ever second-weekend in China by a superhero movie. The cumulative, and the film’s momentum, mean that the “Venom” box office in China is on course to overtake the film’s $210 million performance in North America.

In comparison, “Grindelwald” managed only $34.8 million, opening in second place. Some $4.5 million of that came from