Tag Archives: Sultan

Bollywood Box Office: December 23-25, 2016

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Dangal closed out 2016 with the year’s biggest opening weekend in North America, on its way to being the year’s most successful Bollywood film. From December 23-25, 2016, Dangal earned $3,078,278 from 357 theaters* ($8,623 average). That was enough to rank it in 11th place among all movies at the North American box office for the holiday weekend, according to Box Office Mojo.

After adding its weekend take to its earnings from Wednesday night previews and Thursday showings, Dangal‘s official total is $3,907,781. Early reports have the movie earning about another $1 million on Monday, putting its six-day total at about $5 million. It will be the highest-earning Hindi film of the year in North America by the end of the week. Sultan currently holds that title with $6,191,282.

*Although Bollywood Hungama reports Dangal as showing in 331 theaters in the United States and 26 theaters in Canada, I suspect that 331 is actually the total number of theaters for all of North America combined (which would make Dangal‘s per-theater average $9,300). However, without access to Rentrak’s raw data to confirm my suspicions, I am using 357 as the total number of theaters in my calculations.

Other Hindi movies still in theaters:

  • Dear Zindagi: Week 5; $4,908 from seven theaters; $701 average; $2,446,761 total
  • Befikre: Week 3; $3,974 from fourteen theaters; $284 average; $810,760 total
  • Kahaani 2: Week 4; $974 from three theaters; $325 average; $488,278 total

Source: Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama

Bollywood Box Office: August 19-21, 2016

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Happy Bhag Jayegi turned in a perfectly respectable opening weekend in North American theaters. From August 19-21, 2016, the romantic comedy earned $156,110 from 77 theaters, an average of $2,027 per theater.

In its second weekend in North American theaters, Rustom extended last weekend‘s narrow victory over Mohenjo Daro by a large margin. Rustom earned $359,432 from 118 theaters ($3,046 average). Those earnings are down just 53% from last weekend — one of the best retention rates of the year. Rustom‘s total earnings stand at $1,444,888.

Mohenjo Daro didn’t hold up nearly as well. It earned $166,308 from 164 theaters ($1,014 average) in its second weekend, down about 77% from last weekend (which is almost exactly the median Weekend 1-Weekend 2 drop for 2016 releases). That decline is better than Fitoor‘s 87% plunge but worse than Fan‘s 74% drop. Mohenjo Daro‘s total stands at $1,145,847, putting it in ninth place for the year — not good enough for a movie that opened in more than 200 theaters.

Sultan held on for a seventh week in two theaters, earning $1,247 ($624 average) to bring its total to $6,191,282.

Source: Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama

Bollywood Box Office: August 12-14, 2016

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The battle between Rustom and Mohenjo Daro has been decided in North America, with Rustom emerging the victor by a greater margin than it first appears. From August 12-14, 2016, Rustom earned $757,004 from 132 theaters ($5,735 average). During the same weekend, Mohenjo Daro earned almost as much — $728,236 — but in over a hundred more theaters (237, to be exact). That gave Mohenjo Daro a much lower per-theater average of $3,073.

To put these performances in context for the year, Mohenjo Daro released into the third highest number of theaters in North America, but its opening weekend gross was only sixth best and its opening weekend average a disappointing eleventh. On the other hand, Rustom released into the eighth highest number of theaters for 2016, but its opening weekend gross and average were both fifth best.

Both movies will wind up earning $1 million here, so at least Mohenjo Daro star Hrithik Roshan can hang his hat on that. It’s now a question of how widely the two film’s fortunes will diverge going forward, and anecdotal evidence from the Chicago area hints at a brighter future for Rustom. Last weekend saw Mohenjo Daro open in nine Chicago area theaters, compared to Rustom‘s six. Rustom is carrying over for a second weekend in all six of its original theaters, while Mohenjo Daro is down to seven. More importantly, three of those seven theaters are only showing Mohenjo Daro twice per day over the weekend, and another is only showing it once daily. So, despite the higher theater count, Mohenjo Daro gets only twenty showings across the Chicago area on Friday, while Rustom gets 22.

If Mohenjo Daro‘s showings are already being cut back dramatically, the movie could be down to just one or two theaters in Chicago by next weekend. If that plays out the same way in other metropolitan areas across the United States and Canada, Mohenjo Daro could have a lot of trouble going forward. Worst case scenario is a quick burnout like Fitoor earlier this year, which made 2/3s of its total earnings in its first weekend. A 1.5 multiplier would see Mohenjo Daro post total earnings just shy of $1.1 million, which would put it in tenth place for the year. That would be bad.

Other Bollywood movies still in North American theaters:

  • Dishoom: Week 3; $5,863 from nine theaters; $651 average; $803,195 total
  • Sultan: Week 6; $1,738 from two theaters; $869 average; $6,189,464 total

Source: Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama

Bollywood Box Office: August 5-7, 2016

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Hindi films were in a holding pattern over the weekend, biding time until the release of Mohenjo Daro and Rustom on August 12. Of the Bollywood movies still in North American theaters from August 5-7, 2016, Dishoom led the pack with $117,601 from 73 theaters ($1,611 average). That brings its total to $742,108 after its second weekend.

In its fifth weekend, Sultan took in $28,174 from twenty theaters ($1,409 average), bringing its total earnings to $6,180,930. Madaari completed its third weekend in North America with $1,592 from four theaters ($398 average) to bring its total to $163,408.

Source: Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama

In Theaters: August 5, 2016

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With two big films on tap for next weekend — Mohenjo Daro and Rustom — no new Hindi movies are opening in the Chicago area on Friday, August 5, 2016. Dishoom carries over for a second week at MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, AMC South Barrington 30 in South Barrington, and Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville. Sultan gets a fifth week at the Cantera 17 and MovieMax, which also holds over Madaari for a third week.

One new release of interest to fans of Indian cinema is Bazodee, a musical romance about an NRI in Trinidad and Tobago who falls for a handsome rasta singer. Bazodee stars Bollywood veteran Kabir Bedi and opens locally at the Cantera 17, Regal Round Lake Beach Stadium 18 in Round Lake Beach, and AMC Loews Woodridge 18 in Woodridge.

Other Indian movies showing in the Chicago area:

Bollywood Box Office: July 29-31, 2016

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Dishoom performed well in its opening weekend in North American theaters. From July 29-31, 2016, the action flick earned $435,497 from 111 theaters ($3,923 average). That was enough to finish in twentieth place overall in North America.

The shocking news from the weekend was how dramatically business for the Tamil/Telugu film Kabali fell in its second weekend of release. After earning nearly $4 million in its opening weekend, Kabali earned just $239,352 from 141 theaters ($1,698 average) in its second. That’s a drop of nearly 95%. Tickets for Indian films in languages other than Hindi cost more during their first week in North American theaters, but the price drop in the second week isn’t steep enough to explain such low returns. For example, in Chicago area theaters, opening weekend adult tickets were priced at $20 and up. As of today — Kabali‘s fourteenth day in theaters — two local theaters are still pricing adult tickets at $18, two at $10, and one at $4.50 (the Century Stratford Square in Bloomingdale, for you bargain hunters out there). Kabali‘s total earnings in the United States and Canada stand at $4,436,528.

Back to Hindi films, Sultan is finally running out of steam. In its fourth weekend, it earned $83,785 from 41 theaters ($2,044 average), bringing its North American total to $6,107,827.

Other Bollywood movies still in theaters:

  • Madaari: Week 2; $18,328 from nineteen theaters; $965 average; $153,114 total
  • Dhanak:  Week 7; $40 from one theater; $12,939 total

Sources: Box Office Mojo and Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama

Opening July 29: Dishoom

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The Bollywood buddy cop film Dishoom — starring John Abraham, Varun Dhawan, and Jacqueline Fernandez — hits Chicago area theaters on July 29, 2016.

Dishoom opens on Friday at the AMC River East 21 in Chicago, MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, AMC South Barrington 30 in South Barrington, and Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville. It has a listed runtime of 2 hours.

Madaari carries over for a second week at MovieMax and Cantera, but with limited showings at both theaters. Sultan gets a fourth week at MovieMax, South Barrington 30, Cantera, and AMC Loews Woodridge 18 in Woodridge.

Other Indian movies showing in the Chicago area this weekend include:

Bollywood Box Office: July 22-24, 2016

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Madaari quietly performed to expectations in North America on a weekend overshadowed by the titan Rajinikanth. From July 22-24, 2016, Madaari earned $94,268 from 61 theaters ($1,545 average) in the United States and Canada. That’s pretty good considering the competition: Rajinikanth’s Tamil/Telugu film Kabali, which took in nearly $4 million in its first four days.

The cannibalization of screenspace by Kabali and Hollywood blockbusters greatly reduced Sultan‘s footprint, throttling the film’s performance in its third weekend in North American theaters. Sultan earned $298,753 from 114 theaters ($2,621 average), bringing its total to $5,897,836.

Sultan‘s competition further increases this Friday with the release of the Varun Dhawan-John Abraham action flick Dishoom, so it looks as though my projections for Sultan were a bit on the high side last week. A $7 million total seems much less likely now, especially with Sultan poised to lose half of its remaining theaters on Friday. It could still surpass the $6.53 million made by 3 Idiots in 2009, but even that’s not a given.

Sources: Box Office Mojo and Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama

Opening July 22: Madaari

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Thanks to Kabali taking over every screen at MovieMax and construction work shuttering several screens at the South Barrington 30, the social drama Madaari is getting a very limited release in the Chicago area on Friday, July 22, 2016. The only local theater carrying the Irrfan Khan-starrer is the Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville. The movie has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 14 min.

With so many screens either out of commission or devoted to Hollywood summer blockbusters, Sultan is set to lose a lot of local theaters come Friday. It gets a third weekend at the Cantera 17, AMC South Barrington 30 in South Barrington, and one show per day at the Regal Round Lake Beach 18 in Round Lake Beach. That’s down from the nine theaters that carried Sultan during its first two weeks.

The only other Indian movie in town this weekend is Rajinikanth’s Kabali. Starting Thursday morning, Kabali shows in both Tamil (with English subtitles) and Telugu (no subtitles) at MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, Muvico Rosemont 18 in Rosemont, Century Stratford Square in Bloomingdale, Cinemark at Seven Bridges in Woodridge, and Marcus Addison Cinema in Addison (Tamil only). It has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 32 min.

Bollywood Box Office: July 15-17, 2016

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With no new competitors entering the fray, Sultan dominated the Bollywood box office in North America for a second weekend in a row. From July 15-17, 2016, it added another $956,949 from 298 theaters ($3,211 average) to bring its total to $5,321,818. The movie continues to receive outsized support from Canada, where the weekend’s per-theater average was $7,349, versus an average of $2,849 in theaters in the United States.

Last week, I looked at the performances of past blockbusters to gauge how Sultan might fare going forward, so let’s continue that exercise this week. Sultan‘s second weekend earnings were about 41% of what it earned in its first weekend in theaters. That’s better than the 31% Dhoom 3 carried over, but worse than both PK (47%) and Bajrangi Bhaijaan (60%). Bajrangi Bhaijaan‘s business grew at a significantly slower pace than that of PK or Dhoom 3, which concentrated their earnings early in their theatrical runs. By the end of their second weekend in theaters, here’s what each of those three films had earned, as well as what percentage of the films’ total earnings those figures represent:

  • Bajrangi Bhaijaan: $5,558,910 after second weekend; 69% of total earnings
  • PK: $7,785,486 after second weekend; 74% of total earnings
  • Dhoom 3: $6,817,835 after second weekend; 84% of total earnings

Applying those percentages to Sultan‘s second weekend haul yields total earnings of $7.7 million, $7.1 million, and $6.3 million, respectively. Sultan‘s week-to-week retention rate hints at it performing more like PK or Dhoom 3 than slow-growing Bajrangi Bhaijaan, so a final total right around $7 million seems most likely.

Other Hindi films still in theaters:

  • Udta Punjab: Week 5; $5,694 from four theaters; $1,424 average; $1,234,838 total
  • Dhanak: Week 5; $170 from one stalwart theater; $12,624 total

Sources: Box Office Mojo and Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama