Warner Bros to open its largest Harry Potter studio tour in Shanghai

By Adrian Wong

 

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. plans to open its largest Making of Harry Potter studio tour in Shanghai in 2027, seeking to capitalize on the local popularity of the movies and China’s push to boost consumer spending. 

The joint venture with Chinese travel and hospitality conglomerate Jinjiang International still needs regulatory approval, Warner Bros. said in a statement, which didn’t include financial details. The Harry Potter studio tour in Tokyo, which opened in 2023, cost a reported $115 million.

 

It’s the latest example of how Warner Bros. is leveraging the Harry Potter franchise, which has expanded beyond the eight-part film series into a Fantastic Beasts spin-off, a theater run on Broadway and the West End, and video games. A television series, which is expected to run for a decade on the company’s Max streaming platform from 2026, is due to begin filming this summer.

 

The Shanghai move comes with China facing economic headwinds that could be exacerbated by US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs. Beijing’s response has been to try to boost domestic demand, something Warner Bros. will try to tap into. All eight Harry Potter movies were re-released in China in October and played for eight consecutive weeks in 3,400 theaters in 295 cities. 

 

The country already has one Harry Potter attraction, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter area at Universal Studios in Beijing, which opened in 2021.

 

The proposed Shanghai site is the local government-owned Jinjiang Amusement Park, which closed in January for renovation. It was the first major theme park in the city when it opened in 1985, with China’s first Ferris wheel.

 

Unlike the theme-park rides, the Harry Potter studio tours are a self-guided exhibition of the making of the movies. They include recreations of iconic sets such as the Great Hall of Hogwarts — the school Harry Potter attends — and Diagon Alley, the shopping street for wizards and witches. They also display props, costumes and animatronics used in production.

 

The first opened in London in 2012 at Leavesden studios northwest of London, where the movies were shot. Shanghai is the third after Tokyo, and will be almost four times bigger than the original, according to Warner Bros.