Universal‘s international release of Lionsgate‘s Michael Jackson biopic, Michael, opened in most of its 82 markets yesterday with an $18.5M first day (which includes Tuesday previews). Back out those previews and Wednesday alone was $16.6M.

China goes tomorrow, India, Bolivia and Pakistan open today in what is an overall 23, 230 locations and 50,529 screens foreign play across 82 markets.

Biggest results came from both France and U.K. Ireland yesterday which respectively minted $2.6M.

Michael at 743 screens in France, charted the biggest opening day for a biopic ever, coming in well above the Wednesday openings of both Oppenheimer and Bohemian Rhapsody. The pic was the No. 1 rank, capturing a strong 41% of admissions.

UK & Ireland also saw the biggest opening day for a musical biopic of all time, ahead of the Wednesday opening of Bohemian Rhapsody and well above the Friday openings for Elvis and Rocketman. Michael repped 71% of the total market yesterday, and of course, it was No. 1 for the day.

Italy delivered $1.3M on Wednesday at 480 locations with more than 2.3k showtimes, dominating the market with a 72% share. The Antoine Fuqua directed, Graham King produced, John Logan scripted movie posted the highest per-theatre average by a significant margin. And, yes, it’s the biggest opening day ever for a musical biopic, above Bohemian Rhapsody.

Mexico expanded to wider previews on Wednesday, adding $1.1M to reach a running total of $1.6M. No. 1 pic with a strong 64% market share.

Spain, was also No. 1 for Michael with $1.1M on Wednesday across 520 screens and a 62% market share. It was also the highest opening day for a biopic ever, outgrossing both the Wednesday opening of Bohemian Rhapsody and the Thursday opening of Oppenheimer.

In Germany, where Jackson toured the most, the movie made $1M yesterday at 849 screens, a No. 1 55% marketshare. That day one in ahead of Bohemian Rhapsody’s Thursday opening, representing the biggest opening day for a musical biopic ever in the market.

In Australia Michael delivered an excellent $1.0M from 290 locations on opening Wednesday. This is the biggest opening day for a musical biopic ever, beating local filmmaker Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis. 

In Brazil, Michael posted $651k for a running cume with previews of $2M. The combined preview result represents the biggest ever for a non-superhero, non-franchise film in the market. The Jaafar Jackson starring movie continues to be No. 1, repping 68% of the marketshare.

Stateside, Imax and premium format fan screenings were held last night starting at 7PM. That money will be rolled into today’s previews which began at 12 noon.