Los Angeles ? Harry Potter has his work cut out for him to match his box-office grades from freshman year.

The boy wizard’s second film adventure, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” opens today on even more screens in more theaters than “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” did a year ago.

But it could face a bit of a sophomore jinx. Distributor Warner Bros. concedes “Chamber of Secrets” may have a hard time equaling the $90.3 million opening weekend of “Sorcerer’s Stone.”

“There was such an anticipation for the opening of the first one that it would really be extremely difficult and unrealistic that we could open to a number quite that large,” said Dan Fellman, Warner’s head of domestic distribution.

Still, as they did for “Sorcerer’s Stone,” night owls lined up Thursday night for the earliest screenings, a minute after midnight.

“People just want to be part of that craze,” said Art Levitt, chief executive of Fandango Inc., which sells movie tickets online. “They want to be the first ones in to see it.”

“Sorcerer’s Stone” held the record for best opening-weekend gross until “Spider-Man” rolled in last spring with a $114.8 million debut.

Adapted from the second of J.K. Rowling’s best-selling books, “Chamber of Secrets” follows Harry through year two at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he has a rematch with the evil conjurer who killed his parents.

“Chamber of Secrets” will open in a record 3,682 theaters, 10 more than “Sorcerer’s Stone,” and play on a record 8,500 screens, up about 400 more than the first film.

While it may not break cash records, early reviews generally are calling “Chamber of Secrets” a better movie than “Sorcerer’s Stone.” That’s a sign the new film may have more staying power and eventually exceed the $317.6 million total taken in by “Sorcerer’s Stone.”

“We’ve seen a lot of sequels besting their predecessors lately,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. “Everyone’s saying this one’s better, so the buzz is there.”

Fandango’s advance sales for “Chamber of Secrets” were running comparable to those for “Sorcerer’s Stone,” Levitt said.

Warner Bros. has tried hard to ensure that “Harry Potter” works the same magic again. Child stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint returned for part two, along with key adult cast members and director Chris Columbus.

The filmmakers again followed the text of Rowling’s novel as inclusively as possible, producing a two-hour, 41-minute movie ” long by family-film standards.