“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% from its opening weekend. 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 score and the film’s momentum put “Venom’s” box office in China on course to overtake the film’s $210 million performance in North America.

By comparison, the new “Fantastic Beasts” installment managed only $34.8 million, in second place. About $4.5 million of that came from performances at 557 Imax venues.

The figures are significantly lower than for the first “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” That released in China in 2016, with a $40.8 million first weekend and an eventual total of $86 million.

“Venom” and “Grindelwald” had largely similar performances Friday, with “Grindelwald” enjoying the higher screen counts: about 125,000 performances, compared with some 105,000 screenings for “Venom.” But on Saturday, exhibitors switched their loyalty and resources to the holdover title. Some “Venom” watchers were Stan Lee fans who said they were buying tickets and seeing the film in honor of the legendary comic book creator, who died last week.

The cumulative box office for all films on release in China this weekend stood at $146 million, according to Artisan Gateway. That gives a year-to-date net total of $7.45 billion, about 9.7% ahead of 2017.

Third place this past weekend belonged to Chinese new release “Cool Fish,” which scored $8.9 million. Fourth place was taken by Japan’s “Detective Conan: Zero the Enforcer,” with $5.1 million in its second weekend. After 10 days on release, it has a $15.8 million cumulative.

Chinese film “Last Letter,” a romance starring Zhou Xun, dropped from fourth to fifth place, but held up well. It earned $4.5 million in its second weekend, down only 17% from its opening $5.4 million.