Men In Black II (MIIB) took an estimated $17.4m at the international box office over the weekend as Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International rolled out its sci-fi romp to 12 territories bringing its running total to $34.7m. With an unconfirmed best-ever opening in South Korea for a non-Korean language picture and several top five all-time openings in other regions, MIIB continued to enjoy the success spawned by its initial forays into the international arena last weekend.

In South Korea the picture scored $3.8m from 150 theatres. If this figure proves to be accurate it will give MIIB the highest opening of any foreign film in the territory, surpassing the mark set earlier this year by studio stablemate Spider-Man.

Opening in 18 venues in Taiwan, MIIB grossed $1.2m and is in line for the second highest local opening of all time behind Universal's 2001 sequel The Mummy Returns. The picture also opened well in Mexico and Brazil - the two most significant Latin American markets. In Mexico it took $3.1m from 532 theatres and will become the fifth highest opener of all time behind Spider-Man (Columbia TriStar), Dinosaur (BVI), Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone (Warner Bros) and Ice Age (Fox). In Brazil MIIB grossed $1.6m from 379 theatres, lining up for the third highest opening ever behind Spider-Man and Harry Potter.

Elsewhere the picture took $1m from 97 theatres in Switzerland, which would make it the seventh highest opener; $265,000 from 116 venues in Argentina; and $75,000 from 13 theatres in Uruguay.

In a strong second weekend MIIB took $3.2m in Japan, a 25% drop-off from the previous weekend. The picture opens in Germany next weekend.

Spider-Man has now necome CTFDI's most successful international release ever after taking an estimated $10m from 5,100 international screens, excluding North America over the weekend. Its estimated cumulative total now stands at $345m, passing Men In Black's former studio record of $338.7m. Spider-Man will open in its last international territory, China, on August 7.