UPDATE: ‘Maleficent’ Conjures $20.1M In 35 Overseas Markets Ahead Of Weekend Expansion

UPDATE, FRIDAY 10:20 AM: After bowing in a handful of territories on Wednesday, Angelina Jolie-starrer Maleficent expanded on Thursday to a total 35 markets including Russia, Germany, Korea, Brazil and Australia. Along with the UK, France, Italy and others which got the Disney movie on Wednesday, the total two-day overseas take is $20.1M. In the UK on Wednesday, Jolie had her best-ever opening at $2.5M (with Thursday added in, the UK now stands at $4.6M). Thursday’s $2.1M Germany opening was likewise a milestone for the actress who’s been absent from live-action movies since 2010. Russia opened to $2.4M on Thursday and France was a big No. 1 among new openers with $2.1M on Wednesday. Spain and Mexico open today with some smaller territories that will make for a total of 47 through the weekend. There will be numbers galore in the next few days as international rollouts also begin on Tom Cruise-starrer Edge Of Tomorrow and Seth MacFarlane’s A Million Ways To Die In The West.

PREVIOUS, THURSDAY 10:23 AM PT: Disney’s Maleficent is off to a strong start internationally. The Angelina Jolie starrer brought in $2.5M yesterday in the UK and Ireland, which the studio says was above expectations. The twist on the Sleeping Beauty tale largely shot in the UK, at London-adjacent Pinewood Studios, and also stars Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Lesley Manville, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple and Sam Riley. The UK bow surpassed the first day for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and more than doubled the take for Oz The Great And Powerful. (Maleficent director Robert Stromberg was production designer on Oz.) Maleficent also did 2 1/2 times the gross of Snow White And The Huntsman, which opened in the same time frame. The film debuted in a handful of other markets on Wednesday including Italy and the Philippines. In those, and the UK, it was Jolie’s biggest opening day ever. The actress hasn’t appeared in a live action role since 2010’s The Tourist. In France, Maleficent‘s first Paris showing led admissions, although the studio isn’t breaking out numbers for each territory just yet. The international rollout is continuing across 47 territories at 13,011 engagements this weekend. Other major markets include Australia, Spain, Germany, Korea, Brazil and Mexico. And those are all just in time to sit for a couple weeks, and likely hold as a nice counter-programming option, while the World Cup begins to gear up for a June 12 kick-off. The all-important China market opens June 20, and Japan, where Disney has had a tidy run with Frozen, opens July 4. Maleficent starts screening tonight in North America at 3,948 plays, including 2,951 3D locations, 346 IMAX screens, 213 PLF screens, and 121 D-Box locations.