Disney's 'John Carter' A Surprise Hit Overseas

Check it out, everybody! Somebody liked Disney's "John Carter" after all!

Lots of people liked it, in fact - just not Americans, according to The Huffington Post.

In its first 10 days on screens in China, Disney's most questionable release in years made $10.4 million in its opening weekend and a total $29.8 million in its first 10 days. The opening weekend numbers alone were good enough for Disney's second-highest Chinese opening weekend ever.

The Huffington Post's thoughts attribute the Chinese numbers bolstering this American Turkey to a combination of foreign markets' hunger for U.S. features, and the 3D format being an established Chinese hit. "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" set the country's record in 2011 for all-time biggest opening weekend and "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2" came in third place on the all-time list. "Avatar" was for some reason omitted from the historic rankings, according to HuffPo, but its own 2009 release was reported to have broken opening records, as well.

Topping Disney's best Chinese efforts: "Tron Legacy" opening in 2010 to $10.6 million.

The solid numbers can only bring Disney brass a big sigh of relief. The Edgar Rice Burroughs novel's adaptation cost Disney at least $250 million simply to produce it, then untold more millions promoting it. It's currently made a disappointing $63 million domestically, but $172 million internationally among all releases. It's set to open in Japan April 13, which should only add to the $264-million overall gross.