I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with the streaming video debut of Rajinikanth’s 2.0 in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. Several recent-ish Hindi films were added to Prime over the weekend, including Ankur Arora Murder Case, Chudail Story, Indu Sarkar, Maatr, and Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai, which I named my worst Bollywood movie of 2017 because it’s a total mess. Like, WTH is this craziness?!?
In its second weekend of release, Simmba earned $1,005,087 from 292 theaters ($3,442 average), according to Box Office Mojo. Its total of $4,115,790 is enough to lock up fourth place at the North American Bollywood box office for 2018 — third place if you exclude multilingual movies like Rajinikanth’s 2.0 and only count exclusively Hindi releases.
Other Hindi and multilingual movies still showing in North America:
Sources: Bollywood Hungama and Box Office Mojo
Shah Rukh Khan’s Zero — co-starring Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif — opens in 300 theaters across North American on December 21, 2018, including eleven Chicago area theaters.
Zero opens Friday at the AMC River East 21 in Chicago, MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, AMC Showplace Niles 12 in Niles, AMC Rosemont 18 in Rosemont, AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington, Marcus Addison Cinema in Addison, Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville, AMC Showplace Naperville 16 in Naperville, Cinemark at Seven Bridges in Woodridge, AMC Loews Woodridge 18 in Woodridge, AMC Oakbrook Center 12 in Oak Brook, and AMC Loews Crestwood 18 in Crestwood. It has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 44 min.
Kedarnath carries over for a third week at MovieMax and the South Barrington 24, which also holds over the 3D version of 2.0 in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi.
The weekend’s new multilingual release is K.G.F: Chapter 1, showing in Kannada, Telugu, and Hindi (all with English subtitles) at the River East 21, MovieMax, South Barrington 24, and Woodridge 18. MovieMax and the Woodridge 18 also carry the film in Tamil.
Other Indian movies:
Even with no new movies in theaters, it was still a good weekend for Hindi films in North America. Rajinikanth’s multilingual 3D extravaganza 2.0 led the field, taking in $189,981 from 114 theaters ($1,667 average) in its third weekend of release, according to Bollywood Hungama. It’s earned $5,226,994 here so far, across all languages.
Kedarnath was next with $164,684 from 97 theaters ($1,698 average), bringing its 10-day total to $713,270.
9-week-old Badhaai Ho was third with $7,809 from nine theaters ($867 average), boosting the family comedy’s overall total to $3,316,788. The family comedy made its streaming debut on Hotstar over the weekend, so its theatrical days are numbered.
Same goes for Andhadhun, which hit Netflix yesterday. In its 11th weekend of release — the longest theatrical run for a Hindi film in the United States this year — the thriller earned $3,265 from three theaters ($1,088 average), bringing its total to $1,373,943.
Source: Bollywood Hungama
We’re in the lull before Zero hits theaters, so there are no new Bollywood movies opening in the Chicago area the weekend beginning December 14, 2018. After a strong opening weekend, Kedarnath carries over at MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington, Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville, and AMC Loews Woodridge 18 in Woodridge.
2.0 holds over in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi at MovieMax (2D only), South Barrington 24 (3D only), and Cantera 17 (3D and 2D), while the following theaters carry the 3D version of the sci-fi sequel only in Tamil: AMC River East 21 in Chicago, AMC Showplace Niles 12 in Niles, Century Stratford Square in Bloomingdale, AMC Naperville 16 in Naperville, and Cinemark at Seven Bridges in Woodridge.
Badhaai Ho gets a ninth week at the South Barrington 24.
Other Indian films playing at MovieMax Cinemas this weekend include Odiyan (Malayalam), Thuppakki Munai (Tamil), Hushaaru (Telugu), Johnny (Tamil), Banjara: The Truck Driver (Punjabi), Mumbai Pune Mumbai 3 (Marathi), and Joseph (Malayalam).
Kedarnath had quite a good opening weekend in North America — fifteenth best in a field of 53 Hindi and multilingual films released here this year, in fact. From December 7-9, 2018, the romantic drama earned $374,964 from 117 theaters ($3,205 average), according to Bollywood Hungama.
It’s showing was all the more impressive given that 2.0 had another great weekend as well, taking in $788,976 from 288 theaters ($2,740 average). The multilingual sci-fi sequel is on the brink of crossing the $5 million mark here, with $4,870,335 in total earnings across all languages so far.
Ayushmann Khurrana’s two films are still going strong, with Badhaai Ho earning $16,181 from 13 theaters ($1,245 average) in its eighth weekend of release. Its total stands at $3,312,100. In its tenth weekend of release, Andhadhun took in $6,398 from five theaters ($1,280 average), bringing its total to $1,368,448.
And then there’s Thugs of Hindostan. In its fifth weekend, it earned $770 from two theaters — one in the United States and one in Canada. The US’s contribution to that total? $10. Imagine a weekend of screenings at that US theater, all empty except for one person sitting alone in one of those showings (okay, maybe two people if it was a matinée). Thugs of Hindostan is stuck just shy of $2 million, with $1,982,112 in total North American earnings.
Source: Bollywood Hungama
Saif Ali Khan’s daughter Sara makes her film debut opposite Sushant Singh Rajput in the romantic drama/disaster movie Kedarnath, opening in Chicago area theaters December 7, 2018. It looks kinda awesome.
Kedarnath opens Friday at the AMC River East 21 in Chicago, MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington, Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville, and AMC Loews Woodridge 18 in Woodridge. It has a listed runtime of 1 hr 59 min.
After a $3 million opening weekend in the United States, 2.0 carries over in 3D in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi at the River East 21, MovieMax (2D only), South Barrington 24, Cantera 17, Woodridge 18, AMC Showplace Niles 12 in Niles, Marcus Addison Cinema in Addison, Century Stratford Square in Bloomingdale, AMC Naperville 16 in Naperville, and Cinemark at Seven Bridges in Woodridge.
Badhaai Ho gets an eighth week at the South Barrington 24.
Other Indian movies showing in the Chicago area this weekend:
Rajinikanth’s 2.0 did blockbuster numbers in its opening weekend in North America, as expected. From November 30-December 2, 2018, the multilingual sci-fi sequel took in $2,770,738 from 315 theaters ($8,796 average), according to 143 Cinema. Adding in returns from Wednesday night preview shows and a full day of screenings on Thursday brought its total to $3,753,667 by the end of Sunday. By this point, 2.0 has already cleared $4 million here.
Other Hindi movies still showing in North American theaters:
Sources: 143 Cinema, Bollywood Hungama, and Box Office Mojo
