UPDATE, WRITETHRU: Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has come in above yesterday’s estimates with $151.1M in its international box office opening. T-Rex banged a gong in 48 markets this weekend with the J.A. Bayona-directed JWFK No. 1 in each, including some record debuts.

The release pattern here differs from the day-and-date global blowout on 2015’s Jurassic World which rebooted the franchise. That film opened to $158.6M in like-for-like markets and at today’s exchange rates, and JWFK’s bow is 5% below that.

On Saturday, the return to, and escape from, Isla Nublar was estimated to be coming in with $145.9M for the launch weekend. Today’s $151.1M estimate now exceeds the high-end of the range that industry sources were seeing ahead of the bow. It also exceeds the international cume of Solo: A Star Wars Story which is at $136.1M after three frames.

The pent-up demand for the 2015 movie, which came 14 years after the previous Jurassic installment, led the industry to be cautious about predictions on Fallen Kingdom, and rightly so given recent surprises on tentpole titles. The dinos have many relieved after the disappointment of Solo. They also this weekend helped push Universal across the $1B mark at the international box office for the 12th consecutive year.

The JWFK opening is the 5th best start of the year overseas behind Avengers: Infinity War, Monster Hunt 2, Deadpool 2 and Black Panther (each of those opened in over 60 territories in their launch weekends, excluding MH2).

Says Duncan Clark, President, International Distribution, Universal Pictures, “Jurassic World is really a genre of one, and each film within this franchise is engineered as a global event. Audiences gravitate to the nostalgia, storytelling and spectacle, and from this outstanding foundation we are set for a lengthy international playout with major markets — including China, Australia, Latin America and North America — still to open.”

China is up next weekend where JW2 is looking at a $100M+ debut. Latin America and North America hop on board the following week. There are certain distractions afoot including the World Cup, but a big title like a JW can typically weather the soccer storm.

Disney Elsewhere, Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War is closing right in on $2B worldwide and will pass that giant milestone early this week — it’s currently at $1.998B — and was recently granted a 30-day extended run in China where the cume after this session is $368.4M.

Conversely, Disney/Lucasfilm’s Solo: A Star Wars Story has grossed just $16.3M in China. It crossed $300M global with this weekend’s $26.5M worldwide take, but was outperformed again by Fox’s Deadpool 2 overseas.

Newcomer Ocean’s 8 also topped Solo this frame, debuting with $12.2M in a handful of markets to kick off the Warner Bros’ pic’s staggered international run after its $41.5M domestic opening in a franchise best.

Ocean’s 8 expands some next weekend while Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles 2 powers up in Mexico, Brazil, Russia and Australia.

Breakdowns on the films above and more have been updated below.

NEW

JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM

Universal The sequel to Universal’s 2015 reboot of the classic franchise opened in 48 markets this weekend as part of a staggered rollout that still has China and Latin America to come. The latter will fall day-and-date with North America in two weeks while the Middle Kingdom cozies up to T-Rex next weekend. China is handily looking like a $100M+ three-day bow.

JWFK, directed by J.A. Bayona, launched with $151.1M and No. 1s in all markets. The debut is slightly above what the industry was projecting ahead of the session and lands these dinos 5% below the previous film’s opening in the same markets and at today’s rates. There have been doldrums in some of the European majors in the first half of the year, while Asia has been throwing off bigger numbers. We’ll have a better outlook when we see holds next weekend, as well as the China opening which is tracking well.

The early offshore debut was partly down to targeting the similar frame from 2015, but it also helps to get the movie in theaters a week before kick-off on the World Cup soccer tournament — and it gives folks something to chew on after Solo: A Star Wars Story failed to ignite. There’s room for the raptors ahead as this is the key high-profile new release in the majority of international markets for a good few weeks. (The Incredibles 2 begins a staggered rollout next weekend.)

The lead hub for this Chris Pratt/Bryce Dallas Howard-starrer was Korea which was aided by the Memorial Day holiday on Wednesday June 6. There, it scored the biggest opening day in industry history and came out of the frame with an estimated $27.2M at 450 locations (including previews).

The UK, with $19.9M at 662 dates, is in line with The Fate Of The Furious while Spain, Bayona’s home turf, hosted a Saturday that was worth $3.6M for Uni’s best Saturday ever and the biggest in the market since November 2012. The full weekend is tracking above the first JW, although that film opened over two days and had no previews. India is also running ahead of JW, as are Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, reflecting the continued growth there.

Overall, the Top 10 markets behind Korea and the UK are France ($10M), Spain ($9.5M), Germany ($9.1M), Taiwan ($8.4M), Russia ($8M), India ($7.9M), Indonesia ($5.2M) and Thailand ($4.7M).

For the weekend, JWFK is the biggest for Universal ever in both Korea and Hong Kong. It chomped on the top June launch weekend in Iceland, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, India, Mongolia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Across the franchise, JWFK now has the best opening weekend in Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Mongolia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

In IMAX results, JWFK grossed $8M for the overseas opening on 277 screens. The per-screen average was $29K with particular strength from Asian markets which averaged $50K per screen. Among the standout averages were Sweden ($83K), Korea ($75K), Taiwan ($65K), Hong Kong ($61K), the Netherlands ($56K), Norway ($52K), the UAE ($50K) and France ($44K).

OCEAN’S 8

Warner Bros Pictures Warner Bros/Village Roadshow’s all-female reboot of the George Clooney & crew reboot of the original Rat Pack pic began international rollout in 16 markets with a strong $12.2M on 4,267 screens. Mostly targeting Latin America a week before the World Cup kicks off — and before Jurassic World 2 stomps into the markets — this counterprogrammer caper was No. 1 across the region.

Australia, however, led individual play with $4.7M on 487 screens, ranking a clear No. 1 with 49% of the Top 5 films in the market. As with domestic, the opening result is the best for the Ocean’s franchise. It’s also more than double of Now You See Me 2.

Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett and the rest of the gang further dominated Mexico with $2.6M on 1,630 screens and 47% of the Top 5. The numbers again top the boy Ocean’s movies as well as Focus (+37%) and Now You See Me (+33%).

Brazil likewise bested the previous installments with $1.7M on 653 screens and is 88% ahead of NYSM and 29% bigger than Focus.

The next openings will come in France and Korea this week with Germany, Russia and the UK bowing throughout June. Spain and Italy are in July and the ladies swipe Japan screens on August 10.

HOLDOVERS/EXPANSIONS

DEADPOOL 2

20th Century Fox After retaking the top spot at the international box office last weekend, the Merc with the mouth comes in 2nd this session, and again ahead of Solo: A Star Wars Story. Wade Wilson tracked down an additional $18.5M on 10,646 screens in 79 markets with some solid holds. The offshore cume is now $376M.

Japan, which is in the sophomore frame, led play for the weekend with another $2.22M to hold as the No. 1 Hollywood movie. The cume there is now $10.2M. The UK ($40M cume) and France ($19.9M cume) retained No. 2 behind Jurassic World. The latter was down just 42% in the 4th frame. Australia also held at No. 2 after four weekends with $24.8M to date, as did Brazil with $17.38M so far.

In Chile, DP2 is now Fox’s biggest superhero movie ever and has been No. 1 for four weekends with a running cume of $5.67M. Kuwait and Qatar releases are ahead this week.

SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY

Disney In the 3rd overseas session, Disney/Lucasfilm’s Solo: A Star Wars Story saw a 63% drop from last weekend. The current frame was worth $11.3M in 54 material markets repping 87% of the offshore footprint. The international cume on the pic is $136.1M with the global $300M milestone now surpassed at $312.2M.

We’ve looked at what happened here over the past few weeks and noted there were some decent holds last session on what is a fun movie. But the failure to launch à la a Star Wars title coupled with the arrival of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom continue to clip the Millennium Falcon’s wings.

In the Top 5 markets, the UK is No. 1 at $21.8M, followed by China ($16.3M), Germany ($12M), Australia ($11M) and France ($9.3M). Japan is still on the flight deck June 29.

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

Disney At the end of its 7th weekend, Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War is on the cusp of crossing the $2B worldwide mark, becoming only the 4th movie to ever achieve the milestone. The current global box office is $1.998B (its global IMAX cume is now $142.5M).

The current frame was worth $10.9M in 51 material overseas markets for an offshore cume of $1,343.3M. China continues its mega-run with $368.4M to date, and a 30-day extension in hand. But watch out, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom heads to the Middle Kingdom on Friday.

Holds were strong this session in Australia (-30%), Japan (-32%), Argentina (-32%), Panama (-34%), Sweden (-38%), Chile (-41%), Mexico (-41%) and Austria (-44%).

The Top 10 markets are China ($368.4M), the UK ($95M), Korea ($92.9M), Brazil ($65.8M), Mexico ($59.9M), Australia ($46.2M), France ($45.3M), India ($43.6M), Germany ($43.4M) and Russia ($34.4M).