Just three months after he hit theaters with The Post, Steven Spielberg is back with Ready Player One, bringing to the screens the virtual universe created by Ernest Cline’s bestseller and its many references to the Reagan years, including Back to the Future, Saturday Night Fever, The Shining and the Atari 2600 gaming system.

And it worked. The sci-fi adventure generated $53.2 million at the domestic box office. Overseas, it added $128 million, with China alone good for $61.7 million. Korea added $8.1 million, the UK $7.3 million, Russia $6.1 and France $6 million. Major markets such as Germany and Japan have not opened yet

After a few days, Ready Player One’s global gross stands at $181.2 million. The big question is whether the film will be able to recoup the $175 million it reportedly cost to produce, but after a few misfires such as The BFG and The Adventures of Tintin this is a personal victory for Mr. Spielberg who, at 71, can claim he still knows how to reach huge audiences. The king of blockbusters can still generate blockbusters, something that has not happened since Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ten years ago. Spielberg may even have a new franchise in his hands.

The No. 2 film overseas was Pacific Rim Uprising. It suffered major drops, but it generated another $31.4 million for a foreign tally of $186.2 million, including $89.6 million from China. In its second outing in the North American market, Pacific Rim dropped 67 percent, producing $9.2 million for a 10-day total of $45.7 million.

Sony’s Peter Rabbit continues to do huge business. In the UK was again at the top, beating Ready Player One, for a total gross of over $30 million. In North America, is the No. 2 picture of 2018, behind Black Panther, with $110 million in sales. It has crossed the $200 million mark globally, with $25 million coming from China.

Black Panther no longer dominates the charts but the Wakanda world is still thriving.  This weekend it grossed an additional $7.7million internationally, for a total of $623 million. Domestically, with a $650 million total, is about to take Jurassic World and be the No. 4 on the all-time list. Globally, Black Panther has passed Beauty and the Beast and is about to pass Frozen at $1.27 million, to become a distinguished member of the Top Ten performers of all time.

Next on the international markets was Tomb Raider. The adventure film starring Alicia Vikander grossed another $12 million this week, for an international total of $194 million. Worldwide, the gross stands at $245 million, $75 million from China alone.

Back to the domestic market Tyler Perry’s latest film, the psychological thriller Acrimony starring Taraji P. Henson, had its debut at No. 2 with a good $17.1 million from 2,000 theaters. At the specialty box office, Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs keeps adding runs and still earned $2.8 million, for an impressive theater average of $17,0000.

Next weekend, Universal’s comedy Blockers, about a group of parents trying to stop their girls from losing their virginity, debuts in the US (it already got $5 million out of the UK and 3 other markets). As it keeps doing solid business wherever it lands and as it opens in France, followed later by South Korea and Japan, is safe to guess we will continue seeing Peter Rabbit at the top of the international charts.

See the latest world box office estimates: