With a subdued slate of major international releases this upcoming weekend, all eyes will be on whether Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines can maintain its perfect record of opening number one in every market.

The sci-fi sequel was the runaway number one performer last weekend and has amassed $153m to date and $96.2m in markets handled by Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International (CTFDI).

Edging in on $100m, CTFDI was hoping to continue its table-topping run on August 6 when T3 opened on approximately 924 prints in France and 90 in Belgium.

Its main competition in France will be the Euros 9.8m French period/adventure film, Rencontre Avec Le Dragon, which went out on 220 screens on August 6. The film is produced by Diaphana, the company behind hit film Harry He's Here To Help. Directed by Helene Angel, Rencontre Avec Le Dragon stars Daniel Auteil, Emmanuelle Devos and Sergi Lopez. With an advertising budget of Euros 1m, the film has been very well hyped.

However, the current appetite for sci-fi actions films in France appears to be healthy: Matrix Reloaded opened number one there in May and racked up a seven-day gross of $11.7m from 857 screens.

Other T3 openings include Norway on approximately 84 and Poland on 83, both tomorrow.

The distributor will also roll out Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle in Argentina on 45 prints on August 7 and China on 191 on August 8.

The action sequel will be looking to build on its $137.3m total to date and opened in Venezuela on 60 and Colombia on 75 on August 6.

Still in the early stages of its campaign, Bad Boys II goes out in South Korea on 30 on August 8 and opened in Indonesia on August 6 on 170 prints.

The film has grossed $1.5m so far and has had to contend with prohibitive ratings in Asia (it carries a 21 rating in Singapore).

In addition CTFDI will be closely monitoring the impact from Tuesday's fatal bomb blast in the Indonesian capital Jakarta.

In its first international release, Universal's American Wedding - currently number one in the US - will open through UIP on 310 prints in Australia on August 7, where it goes out as American Pie: The Wedding.

Paramount's Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life opens in The Netherlands on August 7 on 104 prints and Mexico on August 8 on 350 through UIP. Following its strong bow in Hong Kong last weekend, the film has grossed $4.8m to date.

UIP will also release the latest installment in Paramount's family franchise Rugrats Go Wild in the UK and Spain on August 8 on 250 and 177 prints respectively.

Rugrats In Paris: The Movie opened number one in the UK on $2.2m in 480 sites in April 2001, and ninth in Spain on $163,328 from 208 screens in June 2001.

The distributor will also release Paramount's romantic comedy How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days in Japan on August 9 on 160 prints.

Fox International opens the thriller Phone Booth in Germany on August 7 on 315 prints, Spain on August 8 on 255 and Austria on August 8 on 35. It opened on August 6 in Switzerland on 35 and has an international running total of $29.3m.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl opens in the UK on August 8 through Buena Vista International, where it will have to contend with some the highest temperatures the country has ever experience. However this did no harm to T3 last weekend. To date Pirates has amassed $11m and also opens in Thailand on August 8.

Finding Nemo opens in Taiwan on August 8 and has grossed $53m so far. Buena Vista does not release screen or prints counts in advance of release. Chinese hit Hero launches in Japan through Warner Bros. The film has already grossed approximately $60m from international territories.