Rio, the 3D animated misadventure of a Brazilian macaw, soared at the international box office, earning about $55 million in its opening weekend, its distributor said on Sunday.

Ahead of its Friday debut in North America, the 20th Century Fox release got an early start in 72 countries, opening at No. 1 in nearly all of them.

Top markets included Russia ($10.4 million) and, naturally, Brazil ($8.3 million), where it ranked as the biggest opening ever for an animated movie.

Rio also opened in the Chinese mainland Friday. Though detailed box office results have not yet been released, it is expected to perform well by local critics, as its film genre is hugely popular in the country.

The cartoon revolves around Blu, a rare blue macaw (voiced by Jesse Eisenberg of The Social Network), who returns to his native Brazil after a coddled existence as a smuggled pet in the United States.

It was directed by Carlos Saldanha, the Rio de Janeiro-born director of the Ice Age trilogy. Both those films and Rio were produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed by News Corp-owned Fox.