The belatedly released third installment of “The Mummy” has crossed the 100 million yuan mark (UK£8 million) in China after two weeks, a movie company official said this week, “It’s taking longer to achieve the result than other recent hits.

Boosted by a three-day weekend to mark the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” had made about 101.2 million yuan  as of Monday, Weng Li, a spokesman for film importer China Film Group, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

By comparison, John Woo’s historical epic “Red Cliff” released back in July earned 100 million yuan — the threshold for a big hit in China — in four days, breaking the previous record of five days set by the Hollywood movie “Transformers” last July 2007.

“The Mummy,” a Universal Pictures movie, was released in China on September 2^nd 2008, a month after its U.S. and UK release. Director Rob Cohen had originally announced a premiere date of July 24^th in Beijing.

Distributor Bill Kong said in mid-July that the movie had cleared Chinese censors with minor edits, but he wanted to delay its release until after the Beijing Olympic Games in August, so movie viewers would not be distracted by that event.

The movie has drawn special attention in China because it star Jet Li is cast in the role of a resurrected ancient Chinese emperor that battles a family of explorers.The film also stars Brendan Fraser, Maria Bello, Michelle Yeoh, John Hannah and Luke Ford.

Cohen shot the movie in Montreal, Canada, Shanghai and a desert valley north of Beijing.