Opening in 13 territories over the weekend The MatrixReloaded dominated the charts with an impressive $31.9m internationalbow.on 2,629 screens

In a string of number one openings, the sci-fi sequel took$12m in France (Euros 10.3m) from 894 screens in what was the sixth biggest USopening weekend ever.

Figures represent three-day grosses and not the usual fiveas all international releases cut their lead-in times in deference toThursday's international premiere at Cannes.

In Australia The Matrix Reloaded grossed $7.3m(A$11.2m), the third biggest opening ever behind The Lord Of The Rings: TheTwo Towers and Star Wars: Episode II - Attack Of The Clones.

In Holland the film grossed $1.8m (Euros 1.6m) from 140screens for the third biggest opening weekend ever, surpassing the opening for TheMatrix by 176%.

The SARS epidemic in Taiwan could not stem the flow ofrecords, either. The film grossed $1.8m (local currency 63.4m) with the studioclaiming the biggest industry Saturday of all time ($617,254 or local currency21.5m).

In Turkey it grossed $1.7m and an excellent $12,375per-print average on 264 screens. It was the biggest ever opening weekend withmore than 460,000 admissions and outperformed the original by 183.8%.

Belgium's three-day opening was $1.3m (Euros 1.1m) from 99screens, making it the fifth biggest opening weekend on record.

The Matrix Reloaded opens in a further 48 territoriesnext week.