UPDATE, SATURDAY: With 20 markets added on Friday, Warner Bros/Legendary’s Kong: Skull Island elevated its international box office to $27.5M. That’s factoring in $15.5M yesterday on about 20K offshore screens. All overseas markets (65) are now open, save China and Japan which come later in March.

Ahead of the weekend, we had an international opening range of $65M-$85M. Some rivals had even considered a start closer to $100M, although that seemed — and still does — a high-end. Word of mouth is working overseas on the well-reviewed pic and it now looks like the mid-range of our original estimates is a decent bet. Sunshine and unusually high temperatures are playing a part in Europe which can affect box office, although some areas are expecting a change in the weather tomorrow.

Kong, which stars Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson, cost about $185M before P&A (which is estimated at $136M) and is opening to $54M domestically. Reviews and word of mouth have been good, but as in North America, there is competition in overseas markets from Fox’s Logan which shredded the box office last weekend. However, the expensive Kong so far is holding No. 1s in several majors and is resonating in Asia. Next frame sees Beauty And The Beast twirl into play. Different demos, but that film is expected to be a monster.

Kong is comping well against Godzilla in some markets and that should bode well for China and Japan which were the 2014 film’s top plays. The current best debuts for Kong are the usual suspects in a mix of Russia, Korea and the UK so far. Mexico bowed yesterday.

In Mexico, Kong had its biggest new launch on Friday at $1.2M from 2,467 screens to comp 30% above Godzilla, 29% over Pacific Rim and more than double 2005’s King Kong.

The great ape had a record-breaking start in Vietnam with $590K on 350 screens. The Jordan Vogt-Roberts-directed creature feature logged the biggest opening day of all time, beating previous record holder Deadpool by nearly 25%.

Also new was Spain with $339K from 413 screens and ranking No. 1. Weather is affecting moviegoing there, with Kong coming in 17% ahead of Godzilla and on par with Mad Max: Fury Road.

In continued play on Friday, the UK, Korea, Germany, Russia, the UAE, France and Taiwan held the No. 1 spot. Currently, Russia leads offshore hubs with $2.8M after adding $860K on Friday — a 32% jump from Thursday’s take. The UK has a cume through Friday of $2.3M after doubling Thursday’s number. Korea is next with $2.2M from a 51% jump on Friday. France has $1.6M through Friday with a 44% increase over Thursday. Germany rose 38% on on Friday to take the running cume to $1.3M. Australia (+32%) and Taiwan are tied at $1.2M. Brazil is at $916K.

We’ll have the full weekend update tomorrow.

PREVIOUS UPDATE, FRIDAY: Warner Bros/Legendary’s $185M co-production grossed $8.6M from 44 markets yesterday taking its overseas cume since Wednesday to $12M.

In the UK, Hollywood’s big ape — a property which is in the public domain — tapped $751K at 1,376 venues. It’s currently lower than comp Pacific Rim there. That WB/Legendary film also cost in the same neighborhood as Kong at $190M and made more abroad than in the U.S., $309.2M v $101.8M. In the UK, the monster-robot movie finaled at $12.8M, repping 4% of its overseas haul.

Russia loves the gorilla. He’s No. 1 there with a 46% share of the top five films with $653K from 2,781 screens, and he’s outpacing Logan by 72%. Including extensive Wednesday sneaks, the progressive cume to date is now $1.9M.

Korea (2nd day) dropped off a bit from the non-traditional Wednesday opening with $601K on 821 screens, but commanded nearly 50% of the Top 5 market share. The local cume is now $1.3M.

Australia debuted to No. 1 with $534kK on 524 screens, holding a solid 44% of the Top 5 market share. Results are +4% ahead of Pacific Rim.

UAE grossed a stellar $607K, ranking a clear No. 1 with results over double those for Pacific Rim and 28% above Legend Of Tarzan.

Germany brought in $537K on 792 screens, including sneaks. It ranked No. 1 with 41% of Top 5 market share. The start is 27% ahead of Legend Of Tarzan and 6% over Pac Rim.

France‘s Day Two brought in another $417K, dipping from the Wednesday opening but holding No. 1. The cume is now $1.04M.

Italy pulled in $159K on 491 screens, ranking No. 1 and holding 35% of the Top 5 films in the market and ahead of Logan.

Southeast Asia saw No. 1 openings in six markets, pulling a combined gross of $2.1M on 1,600 screens. Malaysia scored the 5th best WB opening ever on $398K.

Latin America launched in 14 countries, including Brazil and Argentina, with $1.2M. Tracking is ahead of Godzilla by 30%.

There are 20 more markets opening on this beast today.

PREVIOUS, THURSDAY: Warner Bros/Legendary’s Kong: Skull Island has chests pounding in its first openings at the international box office. Kicking off in five offshore markets Wednesday, the Jordan Vogt-Roberts-directed movie grossed $3.3 million and was No. 1 in all debuts.

Korea delivered an opening-day gross of $682K on 780 screens. It was a strong No. 1 with nearly 50% of the Top 5 in the market and overtaking last week’s opener Logan by 45% yesterday. This is a non-traditional Wednesday opening in Korea, and results exceeded comp Godzilla by 8%. That 2014 pic finaled at $5.7M in the market. Other comps here with bigger ultimate numbers include 2005’s King Kong, and 2013’s Pacific Rim and World War Z.

Yesterday in France, where an awful lot of people were watching the Champions League clash between soccer clubs Paris Saint Germain and FC Barcelona (with Barca triumphant in a wild 6-1 finish), the Kong score is $625K off of 76K admissions on 541 screens. The No. 1 movie, it had a 45% share of the Top 5 and was 73% ahead of Logan on the day.

Indonesia pounded out $272K on 471 screens, ranking No. 1. Results more than doubled World War Z‘s opening day, are 38% ahead of Pacific Rim and on par with Godzilla.

Previews out of Russia, where this fare excels, are estimated at $1.3M on 1,130 screens.

The full weekend will see 65 international markets at play in the fields of the giant ape. Today, the Tom Hiddleston/Brie Larson-led pic debuts in 39 including Germany, Italy, Russia, the UK, Brazil and Australia.

Those markets and Day 2 numbers out of the current launches will paint a clearer picture. Word of mouth is strong, but Logan will remain a leggy beast with which to contend. China goes ape on March 24 and Japan bows March 25.