After first opening in China over the Dec. 7-9 weekend, Aquaman dove into an additional 42 markets this weekend.

In like-for-like markets, the year-end tentpole is pacing 65 percent ahead of last year's DC superhero pic Justice League.

Aquaman stars Jason Momoa in the titular role. Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson and Dolph Lundgren co-star.

Warners decided to unfurl the pic first overseas in order to get a jump on a crowded pack of year-end holiday films, including Mary Poppins Returns and the Transformers spinoff Bumblebee. In North America, Aquaman is tracking to bow to more than $100 million over the five-day Christmas corridor.

Elsewhere overseas, Sony's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse opened to $21 million from its first 44 markets, while Illumination and Universal's The Grinch impressed with another $23.3 million from 65 territories for a foreign tally of $133.4 million. Universal and MRC's Mortal Engines lagged behind with $11.5 million in its second weekend for an early overseas total of $34.8 million.

MRC is a division of Valence Media, which also owns The Hollywood Reporter.