Paramount Pictures International (PPI) said launch day figures for the DreamWorks action sequel were 38% ahead of Transformers 2 for the same markets. The overseas tally rises to $36.6m including previews, while North America stands at $42.8m and worldwide is $79.4m

The $42.8m North American figure is made up of the $37.3m Wednesday opening day (including $8m in Wednesday midnight previews) plus $5.5m from Tuesday previews.

Transformers: Dark Of The Moon scored the biggest ever opening day in South Korea on $5.03m, with 53% of business coming from 3D, while the UK brought in $3.5m from 484 rising to $4.17m including previews.

Russia, where the film received its world premiere, generated $3.1m rising to $4.2m with previews, while France produced $3m from 700 including previews for the biggest opening day of the year-to-date and Australia brought in $2.8m from 392 with 71% coming from 3D.

The film opened in Germany on $1.92m from 850 with 93% of revenues coming from 3D and debuted in Italy on $1.35m from 668.

Hong Kong generated $780,000 from 142 theatres for the biggest non-holiday opening day and the third biggest overall behind Spider-Man 3 and Pirates Of The Caribbean 3, with 90% of business coming from 3D.

Malaysia produced $1.05m from 210 in the biggest ever opening day, while the Philippines generated $727,000 from 131 and Thailand brought in $855,000 from 49 rising to $952,000 including previews. This was the first time an international film opened on a Wednesday in India and the result was $753,000 including previews from 520.

Most markets in Latin America open on Thursday or Friday and reports are expected in the coming days. Peru reported $560,000 from 49 for the biggest opening day and the biggest single day of all time