“Venom: The Last Dance” delivered amid pre-release buzz on the mainland Chinese It was the second biggest opening weekend for a Hollywood film this year.

The third film in the “Venom” trilogy grossed RMB 221 million ($31.1 million) on the traditional Friday-Sunday weekend in China, according to consulting firm Artisan Gateway. But “Venom: The Last Dance” actually had a discordant opening on Wednesday, finishing Sunday night with a five-day cumulative gross of $45.9 million.

Local data providers show the movie is on top counter It charted on each of the five days it was released, with Saturday being by far the highest. It played nearly 150,000 screening sessions that day, collecting a fraction of the $14 million it earned.

Premium screen provider Imax reported that the film earned $6 million from screens, or about 14% of its five-day total in China.

The weekend opening was the second-biggest opening for a Hollywood film this year, behind “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” which grossed $44.6 million in three days in March. It had a bigger opening than the $26.2 million of “Alien: Romulus,” which grossed over $100 million in China.

Sony Pictures reported that “Venom: The Last Dance” had the biggest opening for a Hollywood superhero movie in China since 2019’s “Spider-Man: Far From Home.”

Chinese audiences have stayed away from most Hollywood films over the past five years, with a few modest exceptions, each standing out for different reasons. Chinese media praised “Venom: The Last Dance” for placing more emphasis on emotions compared to the previous two games in the series. The new film was appreciated on social media for its anti-hero status.

“Venom,” the first film in the three-film franchise, grossed a whopping $262 million when it was released in China in late 2018, surpassing its North American score. The sequel, “Venom: Be Carnage,” was initially allocated a Chinese date, but the release did not go ahead as the country was under various COVID restrictions.

Ranked second at the end of last week, “The Invisible BrotherA thriller-drama film about an actress who receives anonymous threats and the visit of her estranged sister. It grossed RMB 71.2 million ($10 million) in two days.

The film is directed by Midi Z, a Chinese-speaking director originally from Myanmar who has made most of his previous films in arthouse or documentary recordings and lives largely in Taiwan.

Supported by Linmon Pictures and adapted from a novel by Zhang Yueran, the film stars the popular Zhao Liying in the lead role. It will make its international debut in competition at the Tokyo International Film Festival starting Monday.

Patriotic war movie “Volunteers: The Battle for Life and Death” ranked third with $4.6 million in its fourth weekend of release. It has accumulated $161 million since its release on September 30, which coincided with the National Day holiday week.

“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” the third film in the fully re-released “Harry Potter” series, grossed $4.1 million in its three-day opening weekend.

This year’s Japanese animated movie “Look Back” opened in fifth place in China and grossed $4 million. The film tells the story of the friendship of two socially opposite girls brought together by their love of manga.