Dune, Denis Villeneuve’s well-received feature adaptation of roughly the first half of Frank Herbert’s 1965 science-fiction novel, debuted impressively in the international market, especially in Russia, Italy, Germany, and France.

The movie, which premiered at the recent Venice Film Festival, amassed $35.8 million in more than 20 overseas territories.

Starring Timothée Chalamet ,  Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem and Jason Momoa – Dune, a sprawling epic that Villeneuve made a plea to filmgoers to watch “on the biggest screen possible” – appropriately did boffo business on IMAX. The first installment of a planned two-part project collected $3.6 million in offshore IMAX theaters.

The movie, which also stars Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgard, Dave Bautista, Chen Chang, and Charlotte Rampling, marks October 22 as its special date – that’s when it opens day-and-date in theaters and HBO Max in North America as well as in the coveted market of China.

The ten rings of Shang-Chi continued to weave their magic spell on the overseas box office, too. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, a major breakthrough for lead actor Simu Liu, lassoed $20.3 million in the international box office. The Destin Daniel Cretton-directed Marvel Comic superhero movie has already bagged $143.7 million in offshore cinemas.

Another Disney film, Ryan Reynolds’ Free Guy, is also staying strong at the offshore turnstiles. The action-adventure-comedy has collected $85.6 million since it opened in China on August 27. Free Guy, directed by Shawn Levy, earned $8.4 million in other territories.

After earning $5.6 million overseas, Cal Brunker’s animated feature, PAW Patrol: The Movie, crossed the $100 million worldwide benchmark.

In the domestic box office race, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings still reigned and established a record even on its third frame. With its $21.7 million take in the recent weekend, the fantasy saga also featuring Awkwafina, Tony Leung, Michelle Yeoh, and Ben Kingsley boasted of having the largest third weekend during the COVID-19 health crisis era.

The Asian-led production (both before and behind cameras) is poised to become the highest-grossing movie in the pandemic period in North America in the coming weekend, dethroning Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow. That projection is based on Shang-Chi’s current $176.89 million domestic earnings, compared to Black Widow’s $183.38 million.

Ranking second in the United States and Canada box office chart was Free Guy, which took in $5.2 million.

Cry Macho, the latest directing work of Clint Eastwood who also stars, drew $4.52 million and placed the film in third place.

The drama from the 91-year-old icon, who has directed more than 35 films, also topbills Dwight Yoakam. Working against Cry Macho is that it is also streaming on HBO Max.

In the fourth and fifth spots were Nia DaCosta’s Candyman ($3.5 million) and James Wan’s Malignant ($2.68 million), respectively.

Another debuting movie, Gerard Butler’s Copshop, also opened dismally with $2.31 million and took the sixth berth. The Joe Carnahan-directed action-crime-thriller, which co-stars Frank Grillo, received generally good reviews but failed to take hold with moviegoers.

Rounding out the domestic top ten were, in order, Jungle Cruise ($2.09 million); PAW Patrol: The Movie ($1.75 million); The Eyes of Tammy Faye, which is stirring awards buzz for Jessica Chastain in the title role ($675,0000) and Don’t Breathe 2 ($665,000).