SUNDAY 2ND UPDATE: Iron Man 3 internationally is opening bigger than even The Avengers with $195.3M from its first 5 days in theaters in 42 territories representing 79% of the marketplace abroad. It’s the #1 film in every market and is the biggest opening weekend of all time in Asia Pacific and Latin America. The Marvel/Disney actioner starring Robert Downey Jr already has surpassed the entire international run of Captain America in one weekend and looks like it will knock off all the previous international Marvel films in no time. The first Iron Man took in $266M internationally, the second took in $308M, and last year’s Thor took in $269M. The Avengers went on to make a staggering $895M overseas. Iron Man 3 hasn’t opened in Russia, China and Germany yet but it’s breaking records around the world including the biggest opening weekends ever in Argentina, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia. It’s also the biggest opening day ever in Taiwan, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia. Iron Man 3 is ahead of The Avengers in Australia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Finland, Hungary, Romania, New Zealand, Argentina and Hong Kong. The film opens in the U.S. and Canada on May 3rd.

Performance to date by key territories: UK $21.5M, Korea $19.2M, Australia $18.4M, Mexico $16.1M, France $14.7M, Brazil $12.3M, Italy $11.2M, Taiwan $8.4M, Philippines $7.4M, Japan $5.4M, India $5.2M, Spain $5.0M, Hong Kong

$4.9M, Malaysia $4.6M, Indonesia $4.5M.

FRIDAY AM UPDATE: Iron Man 3 continued its international rollout. Now in almost half of the international marketplace, the Marvel/Disney actioner starring Robert Downey Jr. has grossed a staggering $36.5M in just two weekdays of release — Wednesday and Thursday. The film has opened bigger than The Avengers in several markets including Korea, Argentina, Hong Kong, Philippines, Taiwan and Indonesia. Today the film debuts in major markets including Mexico, Spain, Venezuela, Japan and Brazil.

Disney also announced this morning that the film will now be released in China on May 1st.

Related: Regal & AMC End Disney Dispute; ‘Iron Man 3′ Domestic Sales Begin

THURSDAY AM: Marvel/Disney’s Iron Man 3 opened Wednesday in just a few international markets (12 countries representing 23% of overseas) and is already seeing grosses far above Iron Man 2 and in some cases even The Avengers. The film set opening day records in Taiwan and The Philippines registering the biggest opening days in box office history. It also opened bigger than Avengers in France. In all, grosses for the countries where it opened included France ($3.0M), Italy ($2.1M), Australia ($3.4M), Taiwan ($1.4M), Philippines ($1.5M), and New Zealand ($600K). Pic also debuted in Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Switzerland (French/Italian sections only), Belgium, and The Netherlands. The first Iron Man film made $266M overseas and a global cume of $585.2M. The second installment made $308M overseas with a global cume of $623.9M. Those two films fell under Marvel’s old distribution agreement with Paramount, but all signs point to much bigger numbers for this third installment. Avengers took in a staggering $895M overseas last year, so it will be interesting to see how much of a lift it gives Iron Man 3. With 79% of the international box office opening this coming weekend, a $110M-125M opening is within reach overseas – if not higher. The film is getting good reviews. Domestically, Disney and exhibition came to terms in their renegotiation dispute over Iron Man 3 and the rest of the studio slate. Regal and AMC theaters now are selling IM3 tickets in advance along with other venues. Disney and Marvel could see upwards of a $150M domestic opening next week when film opens May 3rd.