Opening in China before the rest of the world, Aquaman is already off to a strong start at the box office from Thursday night previews.

With it already Friday in China due to time zone differences, the film earned a total of $1.19 million Thursday night showings putting it just behind Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, which opened to $1.35 million in 2016 in previews, as the second highest opening for a DCEU film.

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The impressive opening night totals put Aquaman on track for a full opening day haul of approximately $17.5 million with an estimated $52 million for the weekend. For comparison, last year had Justice League earn $1.1 million on opening night while Thor: Ragnarok opened to $1.2 million.

While still facing competition from Venom, if Aquaman continues to gain momentum and positive word-of-mouth at Chinese cinemas, it could top Batman v. Superman's opening weekend total of $55.7 million making the studio's tentative plans for a sequel even more likely.

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Directed by James Wan, Aquaman stars Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Amber Heard as Mera, Patrick Wilson as Ocean Master, Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta, Temuera Morrison as Thomas Curry, Dolph Lundgren as Nereus, and Nicole Kidman as Queen Atlanna. The film opens on December 21.

(via Forbes)