Tag Archives: Golmaal Again

Bollywood Box Office: November 3-5, 2017

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Ittefaq faced stiff competition from Secret Superstar and Golmaal Again but still came out on top in North America during the weekend of November 3-5, 2017. According to Bollywood Hungama, the murder mystery earned $286,401 from 84 theaters ($3,410 average). As usual, that theater number counts Canadian theaters twice, putting the actual theater count at 67, thus making the average $4,275 (thanks to Gitesh Pandya from Box Office Guru for confirming the theater count). Box Office Mojo reports a slightly higher total of $298,032. It’s the 17th best opening weekend performance of the year, even though Ittefaq only ranks 26th in terms of opening weekend theater counts (using Bollywood Hungama’s figures).

Secret Superstar finished in second place among Hindi films in North America over the weekend, earning $214,141 from 112 theaters ($1,912 average). That’s the second-best third-weekend total for the year, behind only Baahubali 2. Secret Superstar‘s total earnings of $1,870,880 rank it in seventh place for the year, but by the time of this post’s publication, Secret Superstar will have already pushed past Toilet: Ek Prem Katha into sixth place. It’d be fun to see this earn enough to become the sixth Hindi/multi-lingual Indian film of 2017 to earn more than $2 million in North America.

Speaking of $2 million movies, Golmaal Again just became one. Weekend earnings of $178,191 from 130 theaters ($1,371 average) helped Golmaal Again lock up third place for the year with a total of $2,162,962.

The only other Hindi film showing in the United States over the weekend was Ribbon, which debuted with the worst opening-weekend average of the year so far, worse even than Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai‘s $156 per-theater average. According to Sumit Chadha, Ribbon earned $1,585 from 12 theaters for an average of $132 per theater. Yikes. Just…yikes. Update: Ribbon‘s total was revised upward to $1,639, raising its average to $137.

Sources: Box Office Mojo, Gitesh Pandya, Sumit Chadha, and Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama

Opening November 3, 2017: Ittefaq and Ribbon

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Two smaller releases throw their hats into the ring following two weeks of Diwali blockbuster dominance. The multiple-perspective murder mystery Ittefaq — starring Sonakshi Sinha, Sidharth Malhotra, and Akshaye Khanna — opens in 67 North American theaters on November 3, 2017, including three theaters in the Chicago area.

Ittefaq opens Friday at MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington, and Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville. It has a tantalizingly brief runtime of 1 hr. 40 min.

Also new at MovieMax this Friday is the romantic drama Ribbon, starring Kalki Koechlin and Sumeet Vyas. It has a similarly short runtime of 1 hr. 46 min.

Secret Superstar gets a third week at all three of the above theaters, plus the AMC River East 21 in Chicago, Regal Round Lake Beach Stadium 18 in Round Lake Beach, AMC Showplace Niles 12 in Niles, AMC Showplace Naperville 16 in Naperville, and AMC Loews Woodridge 18 in Woodridge.

Golmaal Again also holds over for a third week at the River East 21, MovieMax, South Barrington 24, Cantera 17, and Woodridge 18.

Other Indian movies showing in the Chicago area this weekend:

Bollywood Box Office: October 27-29, 2017

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Golmaal Again extended its lead on Secret Superstar in the films’ second weekend in North American theaters, thanks to its popularity in Canada. From October 27-29, 2017, Golmaal Again earned $499,717 from 230 theaters ($2,173 average), bringing its total earnings to $1,858,958. During the same weekend, Secret Superstar earned $445,789 from 162 theaters ($2,752 average), raising its total to $1,536,637.

A little digging reveals the huge boost Canada is giving to Golmaal Again. Based on the weekend’s earnings above, Golmaal Again out-earned Secret Superstar by a total of $53,928. However, Golmaal Again‘s advantage in the United States was just $3,427, even though it played in 67 more theaters than Secret Superstar. In Canada — where Golmaal Again showed in just one more theater than Secret Superstar — the comedy sequel earned $50,501 more than the coming-of-age musical drama! The overall advantage Golmaal Again has over Secret Superstar is virtually the same in both countries: $165,418 in the US and $156,900 in Canada.

TLDR: Canadians like Golmaal Again a lot more than Secret Superstar.

Judwaa 2 earned $245 over the weekend from one Canadian theater, per Bollywood Hungama, which didn’t report any US earnings for the film for a second weekend in a row. Shubh Mangal Saavdhan took in $150 from one US theater in its ninth weekend of release.

Sources: Box Office Mojo and Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama

In Theaters: October 27, 2017

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No new Hindi films dare open in Chicago area theaters on the heels of last weekend’s two big releases. Here are the Bollywood movies playing locally the weekend beginning October 27, 2017:

Secret Superstar carries over for a second week at the AMC River East 21 in Chicago, Regal Round Lake Beach Stadium 18 in Round Lake Beach, MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, AMC Showplace Niles 12 in Niles, AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington, Century Stratford Square in Bloomingdale, Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville, AMC Showplace Naperville 16 in Naperville, and AMC Loews Woodridge 18 in Woodridge.

Golmaal Again also gets a second week at the River East 21, Round Lake Beach 18, MovieMax, South Barrington 24, Cantera 17, Woodridge 18, AMC Dine-In Rosemont 18 in Rosemont, Marcus Addison Cinema in Addison, and AMC Loews Crestwood 18 in Crestwood.

The South Barrington 24 gives a fifth week to Judwaa 2.

Other Indian movies showing in the Chicago area this weekend:

Bollywood Box Office: October 20-22, 2017

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Both of the Hindi movies released in time for Diwali did very well in North America over the weekend of October 20-22, 2017. Not surprisingly, the film showing in more theaters — Golmaal Again — fared the better of the two, earning $1,003,569 from 288 theaters ($3,485 average; adjusted average of $3,787 from 265 theaters*). Using the 265 theater count that Box Office Mojo reports for the film, Golmaal Again did vastly better in Canada than the United States, averaging $9,233 in 23 Canadian theaters versus $3,269 in 242 US theaters. Golmaal Again improved on Golmaal 3‘s North American opening weekend haul of $626,432 from 86 theaters in 2010, made possible by tripling the number of theaters. (Update: Per Gitesh Pandya, Reliance reports weekend earnings for Golmaal Again of $1,013,893 from 267 theaters).

Secret Superstar also turned in a good performance over the weekend, earning $754,185 from 207 theaters ($3,643 average; adjusted average of $4,121 from 183 theaters). The difference in per-theater averages between Canada and the US was less stark for Secret Superstar: $5,281 at 24 Canadian theaters versus $3,946 at 159 US theaters. Secret Superstar got a jump on Golmaal Again by releasing on Thursday, October 19, and the $60,632 it earned on Thursday brings its total earnings thus far to $814,817.

Among North American cinema owners, none can be happier than the owners of the four Canadian theaters that showed the Tamil movie Mersal over the weekend, averaging earnings of $36,735 per theater. The film’s total earnings across the US and Canada stand at $1,347,387 since its Tuesday, October 17 release.

Bollywood Hungama failed to report US earnings for Judwaa 2, which took in $5,715 from three Canadian theaters over the weekend. Box Office Mojo reports total earnings of $1,431,255 for Judwaa 2 thus far.

Other Bollywood movies still showing in US theaters:

  • Bareilly Ki Barfi: Week 10; $256 from one theater; $572,764 total
  • Chef: Week 3; $114 from one theater; $94,085 total
  • Shubh Mangal Saavdhan: Week 8; $110 from one theater; $689,874 total

*Bollywood Hungama frequently counts Canadian theaters twice in when they report figures for a film’s first few weeks of release. When possible, I verify theater counts at Box Office Mojo, but I use Bollywood Hungama as my primary source because they provide a comprehensive and consistent — if flawed — data set.

Sources: Box Office Mojo, Gitesh Pandya, and Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama

Opening October 19 & 20: Secret Superstar and Golmaal Again

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Two new Hindi films open in the Chicago area for Diwali weekend. Secret Superstar — featuring Aamir Khan opposite his Dangal daughter, Zaira Wasim — gets a head start, hitting theaters on Thursday, October 19, 2017.

Secret Superstar opens Thursday at the AMC River East 21 in Chicago, Regal Round Lake Beach Stadium 18 in Round Lake Beach, MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington, Century Stratford Square in Bloomingdale, Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville, AMC Showplace Naperville 16 in Naperville, and AMC Loews Woodridge 18 in Woodridge, with the AMC Showplace Niles 12 in Niles carrying it starting Friday. It has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 30 min.

Then on Friday, October 20, Golmaal Again joins the festivities. The fourth film in the franchise adds Tabu and Parineeti Chopra to a large returning cast, led by Ajay Devgn and Arshad Warsi. I watched the second film, Golmaal Returns, and that was enough for me.

Golmaal Again opens Friday at the Round Lake Beach 18, MovieMax, South Barrington 24, Cantera 17, Woodridge 18, Marcus Addison Cinema in Addison, and AMC Dine-In Rosemont 18 in Rosemont. It has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 40 min.

Judwaa 2 gets a fourth week at the South Barrington 24.

Other Indian movies showing in the Chicago area this weekend: