UPDATE, Saturday AM PT: Pulling another $30M out of Newt Scamander’s magical case on Friday, Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them has now grossed $53.6M at the international box office. Warner Bros’ franchise-starter landed in 16 more markets yesterday, taking the total to 63 this weekend with play on 24,200 screens (China and Japan open next frame). The film is playing largely to expectations abroad as it heads towards the century mark.

The major bow on Friday was the UK, the birthplace of JK Rowling’s Wizarding universe, with $5.4M on 1,880 screens. Auds gave the scene- (and shiny-object-) stealing niffler 84% of the Top 5 share to land Fantastic Beasts with the best opening of all Harry Potter movies save the final two films.

Mexico debuted to $1.8M on 3,424 screens for the best start in the Potterverse outside Deathly Hallows 2. Spain launched with $1.4M on just 612 screens to double the recent opening day of Doctor Strange.

The David Yates-directed and David Heyman-produced film is No. 1 everywhere and is holding particularly well in Korea where it’s seeing daily bumps. The total is now $5.8M. Germany‘s second day doubled its first with $2M for a $3.9M cume through Friday. France likewise jumped on Friday with $1.3M for a $3.7M tally thus far. Russia stayed on par with Thursday at $1.7M for $3.3M to date. Other running cumes include Australia‘s $3.1M; Brazil‘s $2.5M; and Italy‘s $1.9M.

We’ll have a full international weekend update tomorrow.

UPDATE, Friday AM PT: Warner Bros’ Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them expanded into 38 additional overseas markets on Thursday, and added $16.6M in a total of 47. JK Rowling’s wizards and witches have conjured $23.5M at the international box office in two days and are No. 1 everywhere. Projections heading into the offshore weekend ranged from $90M-$125M and some industry folk are seeing that low end head towards $100M+ while others believe the $125M figure is closer on the case.

Day 2 of the Harry Potter spinoff’s rollout overseas came as the new franchise-starter opened in the U.S. to $8.75M last night.

On the international side, Newt Scamander and his exotic pals scored bigger numbers than many of the Potter films in some key offshore openings Thursday including Russia, Brazil and Thailand.

The New York-set prequel is off to strong starts across the board for this property that’s somewhat unknown, yet familiar given its pedigree. In family-friendly Latin America, Brazil saw the 30-something wizard Scamander best all of the previous films of The Boy Who Lived save for Deathly Hallows Part 2. The launch there was $1.3M on 1,311 screens for an 84% share of the Top 5.

Also among new plays, Russia was tops with a $1.7M flick of the wand. On 2,602 screens, it had 77% of the Top 5 share. The results surpass the first seven Wizarding World movies and land only slightly behind DH2.

Australia got off to a $1.6M launch on 705 screens. Although it isn’t a direct comp, Warner Bros is using Doctor Strange to highlight Beasts‘ performance in some markets given it’s a recent fall release. The Oz start is 65% higher than that Disney/Marvel title and had an 81% share of the Top 5 yesterday.

Germany opened to $1M on 1,271 screens. With Wednesday sneaks counted, the No-Maj world has brought the cume there to $2M. That’s 91% above Doctor Strange’s opening.

Continuing in Europe, Italy‘s bow was worth $915K on 720. Eastern Europe overall grossed a collective $950K in 12 markets. Specifically, FBAWTFT has the 2nd biggest WB opening of all-time in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and now the highest opening in the Wizarding World for Ukraine.

In the UAE, FB is the biggest opening of all the Rowling-created titles with $429K on 97 screens for a $4.4K+ average.

Asia opened strongly with Korea on Wednesday (see initial post below), and five more markets were added Thursday. The region was worth $2M including Thailand where the opening ranks No. 2 among wizard movies.

Korea upped the ante on Thursday (normally the day that movies release in the market) to take another $1.9M for a $3.5M cume to date. It outranked No. 2 local opener Vanishing Time by over 400%.

Thursday results out of France (where kids don’t have a half-day like they do on Wednesdays) were $684K on 805 screens. The total there is now $2.4M.

There are 16 more markets opening today including Spain, Mexico and the UK. The latter has jockeyed with Japan in the past to be the biggest home for the Potter titles and awareness and buzz are all about on the spinoff. Even the ride into the capitol from London City Airport — which largely services business folk — is festooned with Fantastic Beasts billboards, reminding them to take the kids to the cinema this weekend.

PREVIOUS, THURSDAY, 8:46 AM: Unleashed in nine markets on Wednesday as it began offshore release, Warner Bros’ Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them conjured up $6.9M. From director David Yates and first-time film screenwriter JK Rowling, the continuation of the Harry Potter creator’s Wizarding World played on 5,070 screens yesterday and ranks No. 1 in all of its openings which include majors Korea and France.

In notable bows, the Korea opening (on a non-traditional Wednesday) commanded 65% of the Top 5 market share as the Beasts put $1.7M in Newt Scamander’s case on roughly 1,090 screens. That more than tripled local opener Vanishing Time and gives FB the biggest launch day ever for the Wizarding World in this market, surpassing all eight of the previous Harry Potter films.

France debuted to $1.8M with 209K admissions on 805 screens, including sneaks from Tuesday night. Market share of the Top 5 was 70% — with box office coming in 6% higher than the recent opening of Doctor Strange.

Indonesia scored a similar phenomenon to Korea. The $480K start on 690 screens (75% share) is the best opening for a Wizarding World movie save for Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2.

The Sweden lift-off was worth $446K from 300 screens.

The Beasts are zooming to 38 more markets today, including big plays like Germany, Italy, Russia, Brazil and Australia. Friday adds a further 16, notably the UK, Spain and Mexico. In total, this frame will put Eddie Redmayne’s Scamander and pals in 63 markets.

In terms of the Potter franchise, the UK and Japan were traditionally the lead overseas hubs. Reviews have been glowing in the UK where the European premiere was held on Tuesday with a live simulcast to such faraway cities as Kiev, Helsinki and Madrid.

Comps outside the Potter movies include derivative works like The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Maleficent. Industry projections on Beasts before launch were ranging from $90M-$125M in international box office by weekend’s end.