“Jason Bourne” dominated the foreign box office, opening to $50.1 million, the biggest overseas debut in the history of the action franchise.

The film marks the return of Matt Damon to the series that propelled him to the top of the Hollywood A-list. The actor had set out the most recent installment, 2012’s “The Bourne Legacy,” and was hesitant to reprise the role. Universal backed the $120 million sequel and wrote Damon’s check, which presumably had a lot of zeroes.

It was money well spent. Audiences were clearly eager to see Damon putting the hurt on his adversaries. The film opened in first place in 27 of the 46 markets in which it played. Among notable markets, the film racked up $11.2 million in South Korea, opened to $10.2 million in the United Kingdom and Ireland, kicked off to $5.7 million in Australia, and launched to $2.1 million in Taiwan. Next weekend, “Jason Bourne” opens in Argentina, Egypt, India and Slovenia, with a China debut looming at the end of August. Combined with its domestic opening, “Jason Bourne” has now generated $110.1 million globally.

In second place, “League of Gods,” a pricey Hong Kong-Chinese fantasy film with a plot that defies brisk summation, opened to $30 million.

Illumination and Universal’s “The Secret Life of Pets” took third place with $29.5 million. That brings the animated film’s worldwide total to a hefty $395.2 million with several major territories, including China, left to open. “The Secret Life of Pets” opened in France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Mexico, Panama and Uruguay over the weekend. Mexico and Germany were the biggest contributors, adding $7.7 million and $7.1 million to the film’s haul. “Pets” is a whimsical look at what animals do while their owners are at work. The voice cast includes Jenny Slate, Louis C.K. and Eric Stonestreet.

Disney’s “Finding Dory” and Warner Bros.’ “The Legend of Tarzan” rounded out the top five, earning $23.6 million and $22.4 million, respectively. The sequel to “Finding Nemo” has racked up $830.5 million worldwide to rank among the biggest blockbusters in history. “Tarzan” is not so fortunate. The adventure film has earned $309.1 million worldwide, but its $180 million price tag and millions more spent in marketing the jungle tale, means that it still has a lot of distance to cover before it can swing a profit.