JayShah’s Saturday Box Office Column – Wake Up Sid Good In Multiplexes; Do Knot Disturb Weak
New Releases
Wake Up Sid
UTV Motion Pictures and Dharma Productions Wake Up Sid took an excellent start across multiplexes in India over its first day but the follow up was not up to the mark. Despite glowing praise from critics and general audience response being positive, the film remained steady at the lower end after a good first weekend. The expectation would have been for greater momentum during the weekdays for the Ranbir Kapoor and Konkona Sen starrer.
Week 1 Wake Up Sid [WUS] vs Week 1 Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na [JTYJN]
Mumbai -1220% means JTYJN is 1220% MORE than WUS in Week 1
Mumbai -1220%
Ahmedabad -129%
Baroda 60%
Bharuch -76%
Gandhinagar 6%
Raipur -367%
Valsad -115%
Jamnagar -55%
Bhavnagar -172%
Himmatnagar -415%
Pune 78%
Nasik -49%
Goa 7%
Delhi -27%
Ghaziabad -83%
Agra 33%
Lucknow 80%
Meerut -53%
Moradabad -164%
Faridabad 23%
Gurgaon 94%
Gorakhpur -99%
Indore 52%
Nagpur -96%
Raipur -62%
Amravati -170%
Chandrapur -454%
Ujjain -139%
Ajmer 23%
Kolkatta 48%
Jaipur -617%
Ajmer -305%
Kota -935%
Aurangabad 43%
Bangalore 89%
Chennai 85%
The cumulative centre total in 36 centres for WUS = 5.06Cr (ignored 4 centres)
The cumulative centre total in 36 centres for JTYJN = 6.28Cr (ignored 4 centres)
This means that WUS is 81% of JTYJN’s total (5.06/6.28 = 81%)
Using JTYJN’s Week 1 total of 19.75Cr, WUS’s Week 1 = 81% * (19.75) = 15.9Cr
A similar exercise with Taare Zameen Par and Chak De! India yields 15.6Cr & 15.3Cr respectively
Wake Up Sid 1 Week Total = 15.5-16.0Cr(Week 1) = 15.5-16.0Cr
Verdict – Fair To Good Opening Week
Wake Up Sid has posted good first week numbers with a similar print release strategy to Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Taare Zameen Par and Chak De! India. Despite the good collections, the opening promised much more and that said the second week is very important for the films overall verdict. Whereas the three comparative movies had remarkable trending and strong word of mouth, Wake Up Sid appears to be a notch lower so the likelihood of anything above 30Cr is lower.
Overall the response is more positive then negative thus far and should qualify the film as at least an average performer so long as the second week holds up reasonably well.
Do Knot Disturb
Like Wake Up Sid, Do Knot Disturb took a positive start at the box office, but all that capitulated after the weekend was over. There was promise during the first weekend, since word of mouth was unclear for the Govinda, Ritesh Deshmukh, Susmita Sen and Lara Dutta comedy starrer but the film’s chances were hit severely by poor reviews and weak audience response.
Week 1 Do Knot Disturb [DKD] vs Week 1 Life Partner
Mumbai 68% means Life Partner is 68% MORE than DKD in Week 1
Mumbai 68%
Ahmedabad -29%
Himmatnagar -728%
Baroda -19%
Nadiad -245%
Anand -21%
Vapi -29%
Valsad -145%
Bharuch -40%
Surat -96%
Navsari -142%
Rajkot -154%
Gandhidham -203%
Jamnagar -152%
Bhavnagar -219%
Junagadh -116%
Pune 100%
Lonavala 49%
Kolhapur -284%
Sangli -284%
Satara 0%
Karad -11%
Miraj -160%
Solapur -152%
Ichalkaranji 25%
Ahmednagar -255%
Nasik -13%
Malegaon -96%
Satara -264%
Islampur -289%
Wai -116%
Vita -232%
Loni -9%
Rahuri -4%
Shrirampur 9%
Sangamner 2%
Islampur -106%
Kopargaon -57%
Manchar 4%
Sangola -35%
Nandgaon -38%
Akalkot -37%
Ashta -58%
Gandhinagar -2497%
Faridabad -39%
Gurgaon -530%
Gorakhpur -60%
Raipur -311%
Ajmer -31%
Kolkatta -916%
Hyderabad -934%
Hubli 19%
Belgaum -83%
The cumulative centre total in 54 centres for DKD = 3.88Cr (ignored 4 centres)
The cumulative centre total in 54 centres for Life Partner = 2.93Cr (ignored 4 centres)
This means that DKD is 133% of Life Partner’s total (3.88/2.93 = 133%)
Using Life Partner’s Week 1 total of 10.5Cr, DKD’s Week 1 = 133% * (10.5) = 13.9Cr
A similar exercise with Luck yields 13.2Cr
Do Knot Disturb 1 Week Total = 13.5-14.0Cr(Week 1) = 13.5-14.0Cr
Verdict – Disappointing Opening Week
Despite showing some early promise, Do Knot Disturb is unlikely to do any damage at the box office in the coming days and certainly will not match Life Partner’s run. The opening week collections are weak and 20Cr should be the maximum the film can achieve from here.
Past Releases
What’s Your Raashee?
Ashutosh Gowariker’s return to direction starring Harman Baweja and Priyanka Chopra endured a horrific second week after a mammoth 90% slide across India. Collecting only 1.2-1.3Cr more, What’s Your Raashee?’s two week total is only 13.2-15.3Cr and proves to be the second consecutive flop the lead pair have starred in and Harman’s third flop in a row.
Wanted
Wanted suffered under the increased competition as it fell by around 65% across India. Smaller centres are continuing to be the mainstay of the films strong performance whereas major centres like Mumbai are falling hard. Collecting around 5.5-5.9Cr, Wanted now has an impressive total of 53.0-55.9Cr and is on course for a total of around 60Cr constituting a firm solid hit.
January 2009
Chandi Chowk to China : 24.5 – 26.2Cr (Disaster)
Raaz – The Mystery Continues : 22.5 – 23.8Cr (Below Average)
Slumdog Millionaire : 4.8 – 5.5Cr (Flop)
Luck By Chance : 16.3 – 17.9Cr (Flop)
Victory : 1.2 – 1.5Cr (Disaster)
February 2009
Dev D : 16.0 – 17.2Cr (Hit)
Billu : 22.7 – 24.1Cr (Flop)
Delhi 6 : 32.7 – 35.0Cr (Flop)
Kisse Pyaar Karoon : 0.4 – 0.5Cr (Flop)
Siddharth – The Prisoner : 0.1 – 0.2Cr (Flop)
March 2009
Dhoondte Reh Jaoge : 7.5 – 8.1Cr (Flop)
13B : 7.4 – 8.2Cr (Flop)
Gulaal : 3.5 – 4.1Cr (Flop)
Jai Veeru : 1.5 – 2.0Cr (Flop)
Little Zizou : 1.1 – 1.2Cr (Average)
Aloo Chat : 4.0 – 4.7Cr (Flop)
Aa Dekhen Zara : 3.9 – 4.3Cr (Flop)
Ek – The Power of One : 4.3 – 4.7Cr (Flop)
April 2009
8×10 Tasveer : 11.5 – 12.5Cr (Flop)
May 2009
99 : 11.9 – 12.5Cr (Above Average)
Detective Naani : 0.6 – 0.7Cr (Flop)
June 2009
Maruti Mera Dosst : 0.2 – 0.3Cr (Flop)
Team – The Force : 1.5 – 1.7Cr (Flop)
Kal Kissne Dekha : 5.6 – 6.0Cr (Disaster)
Paying Guests : 6.9 – 7.5Cr (Flop)
New York : 42.5 – 44.4Cr (Hit)
July 2009
Kambakkht Ishq : 43.8 – 45.9Cr (Below Average)
Short Kut : 7.0 – 7.6Cr (Flop)
Sankat City : 0.4 – 0.5Cr (Flop)
Jashnn : 1.8 – 2.0Cr (Flop)
Luck : 21.5 – 22.8Cr (Flop)
Love Aaj Kal : 63.6 – 66.0Cr (Hit)
August 2009
Agyaat : 5.1 – 5.4Cr (Flop)
Teree Sang : 1.7 – 1.9Cr (Flop)
Life Partner : 21.6 – 23.8Cr (Above Average)
Kaminey : 42.9 – 44.7Cr (Above Average)
Shadow : 0.4 – 0.5Cr (Flop)
Sikander : 0.4 – 0.5Cr (Flop)
Daddy Cool : 3.6 – 3.9Cr (Flop)
Kissan : 1.2 – 1.4Cr (Flop)
September 2009
Fox : 1.5 – 1.7Cr (Flop)
Aagey Se Right : 2.9 – 3.1Cr (Flop)
Three : 0.7 – 0.8Cr (Flop)
Vada Raha : 0.2 – 0.3Cr (Flop)
Baabarr : 0.4 – 0.5Cr (Flop)
Wanted : 53.0 – 55.9Cr (Hit)
Dil Bole Hadippa! : 20.0 – 22.5Cr (Flop)
What’s Your Raashee? : 13.2 – 15.3Cr (Flop)
October 2009
Wake Up Sid : 15.5 – 16.0Cr (Fair To Good Opening)
Do Knot Disturb : 13.0 – 14.0Cr (Disappointing Opening)
SATYAMSHOT 
October 10, 2009 at 9:03 AM
I believe Bombay 1220% is a typo above.
Thanks, Jay. WUS is pretty decent and not bad given the subject. It has multiplex appeal but is a different kindof multiplex movie.
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 9:11 AM
Actually it is not a typo. Taran’s number is only 35lakhs for Bombay so I think he has either missed one digit out or the number is undereported. I have excluded the number from any calc anyway.
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 9:32 AM
LOL, I was about to make the same point on Bombay,
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 9:28 AM
OK. Makes it sound wierd.
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 9:36 AM
Agree with your WUS assessment. Had the same thought (30 cr) when I saw the opening. Unless it is a super trender like those other films.
Having said that one shouldn’t always buy into the media narrative. Ranbir can take his time. The opening should have been greater if one believes he’s one of the top stars today. But there’s no reason to believe this! So as long as he has these plus films or multiplex hits at the lower end he can move forward slow and steady. The guy’s just three films old. No one could have made the experimental Saawariya run. BAH was decent (again not good enough for a Yashraj of course but then what does Yashraj mean these days?! LOL).
The one thing he should be careful about is not getting completely wedded to the multiplex film. Rocket Singh and Ajab prem fall in the same category as WUS. Rajniti is the one different one.
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 9:40 AM
WUS has one week before Blue, ATB and MANK all release so I don’t see it earning more than 25 cr not 30 cr.
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 9:45 AM
Agree Tyler. 30Cr is low chances. 25Cr seems more reasonable.
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 10:12 AM
and it it is 25 crores that would be poor.
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 7:22 PM
I also concur with Tyler’s assessment. WUS has had a poor showing in overseas markets and only a fair opening in India. WUS has vastly little window time to make 30 cr before the 3 biggies this year are premiered this weekend.
WUS will have to have a vastly strong 2nd week for that to happen. So I too think that WUS will garner about 25-26 crore before it peters out of gas or cacks out at box office.
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 9:48 AM
You have seen WUS?
Any thoughts you might want to share??
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 10:13 AM
if this is addressed to me I haven’t..
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 9:52 AM
Thanks Jay.
BAH should have been a bigger hit than it became. WUS also should be a clean hit. IF it doesn’t perform well, it’s just tough luck for Ranbir. Somehow, the media has never hailed him much even if they have always acknowledged him as a definite talent. Also, Ranbir himself comes with very little star baggage. He has not been that much interested in projecting himself as an heir to any superstar. he doesn’t even court the media that much.
He’s doing stuff he likes, working hard on his films and importantly, concentrating on giving his best to his roles. This is one guy who is least camera conscious.
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 10:10 AM
The media has hailed him wildly in every sense. What are you talking about?!
“Also, Ranbir himself comes with very little star baggage. He has not been that much interested in projecting himself as an heir to any superstar. he doesn’t even court the media that much.”
Glad to see this is a virtue for some and a vice for others! Of course not sure what ‘superstar’ he could project himself as heir to? Rishi Kapoor?! Usually people don’t do it for themselves anyway. It’s the media structure or the fans who create this sense of expectation. Bhansali regularly drew analogies with Raj Kapoor.
BAH was a terribly mediocre movie in my view. Of course not that I would say anything too different about many Yashraj films but this was poorer than many. In any case it certainly wasn’t a solid hit even by the most liberal standards (so it’s not just about ‘bigger hit’) and WUS isn’t likely to be the most successful even for a pure multiplex film.
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 10:18 AM
Sandy has blinders on for some stars and truly talks nonsense sometimes.
I don’t know which ‘media’ she is reading but the ones I read all hail Ranbir as the next superstar. And there are plenty of stories about him and Deepika and/or Katrina so much for his low profile.
BAH was a crappy movie in my opinion and did not ‘deserve’ to be a hit.
Like any other star kid, Ranbir will have a career in BW regardless of the BO results of his movies. He is no different from any of the other kids.
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 10:24 AM
I am certainly one of the heavyweights in the ‘nonsense’ department so I can’t say anything about anyone else in this regard!
On your last point I do agree. One of the dishonest things about the debate about star kinds is that the fact they got a chance in the first place is never questioned by anyone. But somehow this perverse operation is performed where after one gets the break one is supposed to ‘deserve’ it. So whether you’re Bachchan’s son or Rishi’s or Rakesh’s (where even a film is made for you) all of this is ok but you must then prove yourself right away otherwise you’re using connections! The fact that one is in that position in the very first place because of the same connection and that is far more determinative for one’s life than anything else is somehow deemed merely incidental! Wish someone would make a top film for me and then ask me to go it alone! LOL! We’d all sign up for that deal! In some ways the greatest beneficiaries of this system are folks like Fardeen and Tushar. They operate with zero pressure!
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 5:45 PM
True Fardeen and Tushar have had unexpectedly rather long careers tagging along with multistarrer comedies.
Get B-grade stars in a film together and it is hyped up a big multi-starrer. Acid Factory is a typical example of this. Fardeen, Tushar, Aftab, Dino, Diya etc always seem to find work this way.
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 9:45 AM
I think Taran’ headline is 3.8Cr Mumbai…but the figure is a digit out. If it is this, then the 15.5-16.0Cr is still pretty much there, though it could be 15.0-16.0Cr.
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 10:25 AM
Well, I’m not getting into any of these BO discussions henceforth with this sort of tolerance level
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 10:48 AM
oh c’mon Sandy you’re tougher than that. Plus you’re my best sparring partner! if you don’t challenge me I’ll keep saying stuff about abhishek!
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 10:53 AM
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/trade/boxoffice_update/index.html
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 10:54 AM
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/trade/top5/592.html
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 12:19 PM
Thanks Jay — so Do Knot Disturb meets the fate it deserved.
I had expected more from Wake Up Sid based on the favorable media reporting; accounting for the fact that it is one or more year later, this seems to be at Rock On level, or not that much more, right? Perhaps a sign that the multiplex “formula film” (to use someone else’s phrase) might not have an ever-expanding audience- base.
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 2:08 PM
Rock On had a first week of around 10Cr but did reach the late 20Cr’s by end. I think the comparisons with TZP, CDI etc were bit too early, arguably Rock On type of movie is the best comparison.
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 1:55 PM
I think unless numbers of multiplex keep increasing, the base is not going to expand much further. I think the growth has pleataued off lately. Plus, remember, Rock On was helped by tremendous legs. I think this opening might be better but unless has extrmeley good legs, may not make much more than Rock On. Plus, I think there are several formulae for Multiplex films with varying degrees of reach. This kind of film appeals to a certain core of multiplex viewers but not all.
So, I think it is a credible performance BUT NOT OVERWHELMING. It would be unrealistic to expect more here.
LikeLike
October 14, 2009 at 4:43 PM
That’s a very fair summation rajen…
LikeLike
October 14, 2009 at 5:50 PM
agreed Rajen..
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 2:11 PM
Shamelessly stolen numbers for Big Boss ratings. Kudos to Rockstar
NDTV reported TRPs of Big Boss 3 as 6.09
CNNIBN reported TRPs of Big Boss 3 as 6.1
Zee news reported TRPs of Big Boss 3 as 6.0
Aajtak reported TRPs of Big Boss 3 as 6.1
MSN has reported TRPs of Big Boss 3 as 6.0
CNBC has reported TRPs of Big Boss 3 as 6.09
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 6:13 PM
That is clear winner and almost double TRP then all other top 10.
Star Plus 2-Oct-09 Fri 9:29 PM YEH RISHTA KYA KEHLATA HAI 4.3
Star Plus 29-Sep-09 Tue 9:00 PM BIDAYI 4.1
Colors 1-Oct-09 Thu 7:59 PM BALIKA VADHU 3.8
Star Cricket 28-Sep-09 Mon 5:44 PM L/T ICC CHAMP TRO-09 AUS/IND 3.5
Zee TV 1-Oct-09 Thu 9:00 PM PAVITRA RISHTA 3.4
Zee TV 1-Oct-09 Thu 9:30 PM AGLE JANAM MOHE BITIYA HI KIJO 3.3
Colors 1-Oct-09 Thu 8:59 PM FF-KHATRON KE KHILADI-2 3.2
Zee TV 2-Oct-09 Fri 9:30 PM SAREGAMAPA LIL CHAMPS-09 3.2
Zee TV 1-Oct-09 Thu 7:29 PM CHHOTI BAHU 3.0
Colors 29-Sep-09 Tue 10:12 PM UTTARAN 3.0
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 7:23 PM
Yes indeed this shows that Bigg Boss 3 clearly was the victor and manhandled the competition.
LikeLike
October 15, 2009 at 11:25 AM
http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/103322/network18s-colors-touches-all-time-high-trp.html
LikeLike
October 15, 2009 at 4:25 PM
Gabbar’s link:
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/colors-posts-highest-grp-ever-byhindi-gec_419401.html
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 9:53 PM
fantastic.. no doubt remains..
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 5:13 PM
Can anybody tell me what the budget of WUS is? This article says UTV bought it for 28 crores. Add publicity costs it looks like a 32 – 35 crores movie. Can somebody confirm this?
http://www.realbollywood.com/news/2009/03/dharma-productions-utv-is-a-80-crore-deal-not-a-60-crore-one.html
LikeLike
October 10, 2009 at 6:09 PM
budget – 16 cr .. UTV bought – 20 cr…publicity costs – 7 cr…total – 27cr
LikeLike
October 11, 2009 at 10:38 AM
Thanks for the information. So it looks like WUS might end up average at best.
LikeLike
October 11, 2009 at 6:40 PM
BoC:
BO: Acid Factory fizzles; all eyes on Diwali movie releases
MUMBAI: The movie releases at the box office have been blowing hot and cold these past few weeks. While a handful of them have managed to perform well, some of them have failed miserably at the box office. The latest release – Sanjay Gupta produced Acid Factory – has had a poor opening at the Indian box office with the movie doing a net business of approximately Rs 15 million (Rs 1.50 crore) in its first day run and that too with a release in over 800 screens across India. The movie stars Fardeen Khan, Dino Morea, Irrfan Khan, Danny Denzongpa, Manoj Bajpai and Dia Mirza.
Cinemax senior vice president Devang Sampat said, “Acid Factory took a poor opening at the box office with only about 25 per cent occupancy. The night shows were a little better with around 40 per cent occupancy. The audience has not really appreciated the film even though the action is good.”
According to Inox vice president distribution and programming Utpal Acharya, they had not expected the film to perform so poorly. He says, “The opening was very poor only about 20-25 per cent. Sanjay Gupta has given action films like this before so probably the audience did not find anything new and I also feel the timing was wrong since it’s the pre-Diwali week and most of the people are busy preparing for the festival so they don’t venture out to the movie halls around this time. Wake Up Sid probably, is the only movie from the current releases that will continue till Diwali.”
While the pre-Diwali movie release may have disappointed at the box office, the industry can look forward to the three big Diwali releases. Scheduled to release on 16 October are the Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor starrer Main Aurr Mrs Khanna, Ajay Devgn and Sanjay Dutt starrer All The Best and the Akshay Kumar starrer Blue. These big ticket movies are expected to bring alive the box office just in time for the festive season.
Amongst the previous releases, Dharma Productions’ Wake Up Sid has collected approximately Rs 160 million (Rs 16 crore) in its first week run, while Do Knot Disturb saw net collections of around Rs 145 million (Rs 14.50 crore) in it opening week at the Indian box office.
Salman Khan starrer Wanted has done a net business of Rs 500 million (Rs 50 crore) till date in India, while Yash Raj Films’ Dil Bole Hadippa has done a net business of approximately Rs 225 million (Rs 22.50 crore) till date. On the other hand, UTV Motion Pictures’ What’s Your Rashee’s performance has been dismal at the box office. The movie has managed to do a net business of Rs 100 million (Rs 10 crore) at the Indian box office so far. What’s more, two weeks after its theatrical release, the movie has also been made available across various DTH platforms on pay-per-view (PPV) basis.
Keeping this scenario in mind, the film industry is pinning its hope on the three Diwali releases to bring some cheer to the box office.)
LikeLike
October 11, 2009 at 6:42 PM
check out the Wanted figure..
LikeLike
October 11, 2009 at 8:51 PM
Big opening for Couples Retreat (another high profile moment for Rahman):
“Swingers” co-stars Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau buddied up for the weekend’s top movie as “Couples Retreat” debuted with $35.3 million, while the micro-budgeted fright flick “Paranormal Activity” leaped into the top 10.
Shot for a reported $15,000, “Paranormal Activity” came in at No. 5 with $7.1 million as distributor Paramount expanded it into daylong release after two weeks of midnight-only screenings.
“Paranormal Activity” played in narrow release of just 160 cinemas, a fraction of the theater count for other top movies. It averaged a whopping $44,163 a theater, compared with $11,780 in 3,000 theaters for “Couples Retreat.”
“You almost do a double take when you look at that theater count for a movie in the top five,” said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. “That’s amazing. That’s unprecedented.”
“Couples Retreat” exceeded expectations for distributor Universal Pictures, which had hoped the movie would top the $20 million range. The solid opening came just days after Universal replaced top managers Marc Shmuger and David Linde with Adam Fogelson and Donna Langley, who were promoted from other jobs within the studio.
The management shake-up followed a summer of slim pickings at the box office for Universal, which released the Will Ferrell dud “Land of the Lost” and such commercial underachievers as Adam Sandler’s “Funny People” and Jennifer Aniston’s “Love Happens.”
“I feel pretty good today. Happy to have a hit,” said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal. “It happened at the right time, because it did lift our spirits, having the summer we had.”
Along with Vaughn and Favreau, whose collaborations include last year’s holiday hit “Four Christmases,” “Couples Retreat” features Jason Bateman, Kristin Davis, Kristen Bell and Malin Akerman in a tale of friends at an island therapy resort.
“Paranormal Activity” was acquired by former Paramount partner DreamWorks at 2007’s Slamdance Film Festival with the idea that writer-director Oren Peli would re-shoot it on a bigger budget.
But after audiences responded well to a test screening, Paramount decided to sneak “Paranormal Activity” out in a manner befitting its raw, independent roots. The studio began two weekends ago with midnight screenings in 13 cities, the movie building buzz online much as “The Blair Witch Project” did 10 years ago.
Like “Blair Witch,” “Paranormal Activity” is fiction shot in documentary style as a young man tries to record strange doings and apparitions in the house he shares with his girlfriend.
Fans talked it up on Twitter and Facebook, while the movie expanded to more cities based on which markets received the most requests to see it on a Web site Paramount set up. This past weekend’s 46 markets were heavy on big cities, but mid-sized cities such as Norfolk, Va., also made the cut as fans there voted to bring the movie.
“We all spend a lot of time talking about Facebook and Twitter and our ability to communicate. Here’s a case where it allows people to rally around a movie they care about and for them to have a sense of participation, then tell other people, ‘Hey, this is something you should see, too,'” said Rob Moore, Paramount vice chairman.
According to Paramount, “Paranormal Activity” had a record weekend for a movie playing in fewer than 200 theaters, surpassing the $3.7 million haul for “Platoon” in 174 theaters early in its run in 1987. Factoring in today’s higher prices for movie tickets, which average nearly twice as much as in 1987, “Paranormal Activity” sold about the same number of tickets as “Platoon.”
Including its take from midnight screenings the previous two weeks, “Paranormal Activity” has grossed $8.3 million. Paramount plans to expand it to several hundred more theaters next weekend, again adding new markets based on where it gets the most requests.
Sony’s “Zombieland,” the No. 1 movie the previous weekend, slipped to second place with $15 million, raising its total to $47.8 million.
In limited release, the acclaimed British drama “An Education” opened strongly with $162,381 in four theaters for an average of $40,595 a cinema. The film stars Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard and Alfred Molina in the story of a 1960s teen whose route to an Oxford education is sidetracked by an affair with an older man.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. “Couples Retreat,” $35.3 million.
2. “Zombieland,” $15 million.
3. “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,” $12 million.
4. “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2” in 3-D, $7.7 million.
5. “Paranormal Activity,” $7.1 million.
6. “Surrogates,” $4.1 million.
7. “The Invention of Lying,” $3.4 million.
8. “Whip It,” $2.8 million.
9. “Capitalism: A Love Story,” $2.7 million.
10. “Fame,” $2.6 million.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 8:13 AM
Boxoffice update …
http://bollybusiness.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/4-crore-weekend-for-acid-factory-wake-up-sid-18-crore-in-10-days/
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 8:14 AM
And Advance booking status of BLUE/All The Best/MAMK
http://bollybusiness.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/advance-booking-status-of-blueall-the-bestmain-aur-mrs-khanna/
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 8:22 AM
thanks for all the info.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 8:34 AM
My prediction is all 3 films will underperform considerably. All The Best will be the worst of the lot. MAMK could be the surprise. And Blue to take the best start but to not impress at overall. Blue to end around 50Cr. ATB ~ 30Cr. MAMK ~ 30Cr.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 8:37 AM
The thing is Bollywood has an old problem when it comes to films like Blue where there is too much focus on the underwater stuff and so forth and the film itself is very flat. The classic example is Sunny Deol’s Samandar:
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 8:43 AM
This should not be the case this time now … that era was not upbeat about offbeat western themes .. scenarios has changed now ….
I am wondering BLUE got better advance in single screen cinemas, i always consider it multiplex movie.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 8:49 AM
I’d be very surprised if it held up. Of course I haven’t seen the film. Maybe it’s more gripping than I expect it to be. But in any case it’s not about theme. Samundar was a flat movie also. When Bollywood gets too focused on this aspect they just forget the script.
Incidentally what do you think of the BoC number on Wanted above?
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 9:05 AM
Satyam, i got many queries regarding wanted numbers, 50 crore is certainly underestimated using any model. Variation in wanted numbers is because of majority of chunks from single screen … i have given answer in more detail of similar queries here …
LINK
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 9:30 AM
thanks Yakuza.. and I don’t have doubts about your method. I am always curious about these matters though. For example single screens in the interiors can’t add a whole lot once you’re done with single/double screens in major metros and relatively important centers that are accounted for. The highest grossing single screens would be in places like Bombay and Delhi. Once you account for some of these metros you’ve accounted for the vast bulk of the market. Even relatively significant distinctions in multiplex business can register on a scale of crores whereas historic business in really small centers doesn’t add much to the overall gross. The reason why I bring up BoC is because they invariably tend to rely on producer numbers. I think it’s unlikely that they’d be underselling their own numbers by that much. Having said that the one possibility here is that Boney Kapoor who has a lot of making up to do for older releases where distributors are concerned is really ‘paying back’ and under-reporting stuff. who knows in India?! My basic contention just is that a differential of 10 crores is I think not possible just on the basis of single screens in smaller centers.
Nonetheless I do take all your work seriously in this regard Yakuza because I detect a certain sincerity. This is not true for most people out there who clearly indulge in certain agendas with respect to stars and so forth. I know recently you also said that WUS was being overplayed by the media and the numbers did bear this out because even in just the multiplexes it could have done more than it did.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 10:19 AM
Thanks Satyam, Agree on all concerns about single screens. But even in metros and mini metros you can’t access numbers from single screens on early basis because there is no centralized system of these screens, In general these are guesses[applying some model] based on available numbers for few shows of relatively fewer screens. So you can easily guess that error in reporting come even from first day itself, that’s why media generally changes numbers even after 3-4 weeks[ however I appreciate this because this is only way for honest reporting].
But for multiplexes there are some available agencies[who are running centralized system[for eg. Bigtree Entertainment Pvt. Ltd] from where you can get updated data for all multiplexes even after every half an hour[However every access will cost you], so this is up to you, more you lose your pocket, more you will get updated material for your site. But again these are partial numbers of major multiplexes[which are 100% correct] and when mixed with single screen numbers and unavailable multiplex numbers resulted in erroneous data. More Later you rectify these erroneous data, bigger will be differences.
About Wake Up Sid, it was commentary by media which was extremely positive[however Numbers were quite correct] and my concern was numbers are not justifying the commentary.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 10:24 AM
thanks for this note Yakuza.. makes complete sense and appreciate your response.
I did know that there were various independent multiplex tracking mechanisms in India. However even this isn’t foolproof as you suggest. I have for example myself seen the very same release behave very differently in one Fame multiplex in Bombay compared to another one in the same chain in the very same town! so extrapolating things is always tricky with an Indian audience.
Ultimately though one’s overall model should make sense. Wanted is a hard one to be more precise out for all the reasons you and Jay have addressed. But the problem with most box office reporting online or in the media is that the model just has no consistency. Using the data of these very sites one does not see how it is possible to arrive at some of their totals. That’s where the agendas start creeping in.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 10:43 AM
“did know that there were various independent multiplex tracking mechanisms in India”
Yes these are available and charge you per hit to access data[Numbers are available on each detailed level like overall figure for any particular city, overall number for any particular chain, all over India number, per show, per day, per week etc.], each level cost you higher.
“However even this isn’t foolproof as you suggest. I have for example myself seen the very same release behave very differently in one Fame multiplex in Bombay compared to another one in the same chain in the very same town!”
Yes, this is obvious behavior, but in general these agencies covers all cities for one multiplex chain. Either the whole chain will be missed[for eg. PVR doesn’t come under tracking system of Bigtree Entertainment] or will give you data on all India basis for particular chain.
LikeLike
October 13, 2009 at 12:18 AM
WUS was a media-made HIT (or wishful thinking)..the whole CDI/TZP comparison was wrong. This is closer to ROCK ON!
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 10:12 AM
I don’t know. The Wanted numbers are in general all over the place IMO. Depends what they had as first week and second week to compare. I think its definitely more than 50Cr.
The problem was always the first week. It could have been anything from 30-35Cr. The second week too could be 14-17Cr. So the margin of error is huge. Not because of any false model, just a lack of proper collections.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 10:22 AM
BoC’s first weekend report for example
“According to this latest development, the movie’s net business by the end of Tuesday (five days) was Rs 302.5 million (Rs 30.25 crore).
Wanted has picked up tremendous pace in single screens across B and C centers on Monday and the audience continued to flock theaters on Tuesday too. The day after Eid is known as Bassi Eid, which is the day when the Muslim populace gets out of the house to wish each other. While the single screens have shown a huge jump for Wanted, the jump at multiplexes has not been as high.
While Businessofcinema.com had reported yesterday that the week 1 business of Wanted should be approximately Rs 300 million (Rs 30 crore), in the light of this development, Wanted’s net business in its first week has the potential to be in the range of Rs 350 – 360 million (Rs 35 – 36 crore).”
Now there is an admission of sorts here the first week is say 35Cr. So how can the 2nd and 3rd week only get the film to 50Cr? Highly unlikely.
Another report said “On the other hand, Salman Khan’s Wanted is holding steady at single screens and is also doing a decent run at multiplexes. According to information available, the movie’s first week net collections are in the range of Rs 350 – 360 million (Rs 35 – 36 crore). ”
I can only think the 50Cr is a two week number or the first couple of weeks were overbaked.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 10:25 AM
good points.. didn’t remember the earlier reporting..
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 10:14 AM
Jay, your lower end of the range (53 cr) is not too far from the BoC number though. 3 crores is well within the margin of error for this sort of thing over three weeks.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 11:36 AM
Perhaps I will be proven vastly wrong. But I feel that the 3 big major movies Blue, ATB, and MAMK should not be premiering on the same date. I feel it will end up hurting all of the movies. There is still a bad on going economic crises. People have less money to burn on their entertainment. It would seem like the audience would have a difficult time lobbing out money to view all 3 movies during Diwali. It will indeed be vastly interesting to see how all 3 movies will fare this weekend and onwards.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 12:16 PM
yes that policy is ridiculous to begin with. Salman should certainly move his film given that he’s had a high point after a long time and could build on this.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 11:45 AM
Many people are predicting blue will underpeform.I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens.But what if it nets 85 crores.Can we accept that Akshay is the current No1.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 12:15 PM
Sunil, I’d already been calling Akshay this or certainly the topmost star along with Aamir after his extraordinary run but he has hurt himself in recent times, not over something like Tasveer but over films like Tashan, CCTC and even KI. The first two were spoofs in many ways and it’s not at all surprising to me that these didn’t work. But Akshay is a purely commercial star and clearly he and his audiences were expecting more from these films. Then KI which was regular nonetheless tanked more or less after the opening weekend, it did not even register a massive opening week number. So that’s a lot of failure for more or less a one year period with just a SIK balancing the equation. Having said that his brand value cannot be denied even if he might well be seeing the fag end of audience interest in this genre. Blue if it underperformed would add to this list. That would just leave the priyan film. To put it in context Abhishek has never had so much failure on so many big budget and really commercial ventures in such a concentrated period of time, even when he’s constantly being accused of failing. JBJ was a disaster (though Tashan and CCTC did even worse than this) and of course there was Drona though this was never in the JBJ league. SR and D6 had respectable totals for ‘flops’ or ‘under-performers’. SRK has never failed on his trademark genres this way (KANK is the only example). Aamir needs no intro. Hrithik has never failed since the KMG reinvention barring the under-performing Lakshya. Salman hasn’t been getting these kinds of high profile projects for a while. So really Akshay does have record of sorts in this sense. Having said that he could recover with two big hits or something but it’s getting harder. If Blue works he’d be on track again because the Priyan film will I think work. If it doesn’t and the priyan does he would still need to get a streak going. Unless the priyan film is a monster. Because remember if you just do commercial stuff you have no excuses.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 12:30 PM
Satyam,some clarifications.
Tashan is not an Akshay flop.It is Aditya Chopra’s fault not to release his film in multiplexes.So it flopped.That can’t be counted.
Tasveer 8/10 budget is diputed.I admit that percept may have made minor losses but I am sure they have recovered all their money.8/10 is nagesh kukunor’s bigest grosser.Since it is an offbeat film it can’t count in evaluating star.
CCTC is a flop. A genuine flop and it has hurt Akshay to some extent in as a star.
KI is above average at 47-50.5 crores as per BOI and glamsham.
Although Akshay’s haters have made propaganda on a massive
scale that KI is a flop,they couldn’t succeed.Even in overseas Ki was a success.
So if Blue Does 85 crores it will be hard to deny the No1 status of Akshay.
But if does not do well then nobody wil have any doubt that it is a serious setback for AKshay.And not just I,no one will argue he is a top star by any margin.
Regarding your comment that even abhishek didn’t have this kind of concentrated flops,you only have to look at his pre yuva career.
And ofcourse Akshay never had a flop like Drona.
I don’t think DDD will work in a big way.SOmehow that kind of comedy genre has become outdated.So it might just be above average to hit.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 1:27 PM
We all know that Abhishek had a shoddy box office record pre-Yuva. However let’s not forget that Akshay has also gone on to give 14 flops in a row even after experiencing some hits early in his career. Akshay has said this numerous times even in recent interviews which is why he has said his career graph has always been drastically up and down. So that does not negate the point that satyam was making about how Akshay’s concentrated flops in his strength genres has indeed hurt him the last 2 years. Saytam, is bang on in his assessment that Askahy has had more concentrated commercial flops than any of the other current top actors in Bollywood has ever had in their strength genres.
Tashan, CCTC, Tasveer, and KI are indeed Akshay’s flops. Akshay was a lead actor in all of those movies and must be judged the same way others actor’s would be in the same scenario. All of those movies were hyped from the earth to the moon, but all of these commercial movies flopped. Akshay has only had SIK that has done vastly well at box office and lived up to all of the hype from Indian press. I concur that Akshay has been type cast or pigeon-holed into the same routine roles and movies which has caused some boredom in the audience. However in Bollywood there is always room for comebacks and turn around in an act’s fortune regarding the box office. Fortune’s can change for the better with improved box office hits. So Akshay has a chance to get a good streak going with Blue, DDD, and Action Replay. Let’s see how well Blue and DDD fare to see if he can get the streak going again.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 1:58 PM
Tashan had AKshay as Lead Role?Didn’t know that.
And KI is a flop in the dreams of Bachchan fanatics.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 2:01 PM
Sunil: This is an unfair comment. Akshay is one of the biggest stars in the Hindi industry, and was by far the biggest star in Tashan — surely that film was not hyped on the basis of saif, kareena, and anil kapoor alone? I know I saw it (and liked it enough to see it) twice or thrice in the cinema because Akki was in it. That it flopped is a different story (Indian public doesn’t like these tongue-in-cheek homage/retro type films; none of them, be it Jhoom Barabar Jhoom or Tashan or Jaaneman (initial reels) — all of which were IMO better than most films) have worked.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 2:07 PM
Aside: IMO Akshay is routinely treated in the media like one of the top 2 or 3 stars (SRK and Aamir are the others), and has greater visibility on a continuous basis than anybody else — that visibility (or lack thereof) goes some way towards explaining why Hrithik is not spoken of in the same breath. A Kambakht Ishq re-affirms Akki’s status, in that even his box-office disappointments in his strength genre make 50 crores. That is saying something. Undoubtedly he has had some setbacks of late (Chandni Chowk, Tashan, Tasveer, are 3 of his last 5 films, Kambakht Ishq and Singh is King being the other two), and I hope this leads him to choose future projects with care, not just do any ol’ comedy that comes his way. I am disappointed he is doing another film with Nikhil Advani.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 3:22 PM
agreed on all counts.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 2:10 PM
Re: “And KI is a flop in the dreams of Bachchan fanatics.”
You talk as if Bachchan fans have been running down Kambakht Ishq more than others. There is no evidence for this claim — if anything, on the internet it seems to me to be fans of other stars who have expended energies running Kambakht Ishq down.
Why would Bachchan fans have anything against Akshay? Akshay is a huge Amitabh fan, Amitabh has done more films with Akshay than other major stars have; one of Ash’s three upcoming releases is with Akki. I’d like to see Akshay and Abhishek in a movie together too.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 3:27 PM
LOL, I think I certainly said multiple times that in terms of perception KI is no worse than a hit. I mean this quite sincerely. Once the narrative sets in it’s hard to unwind it. But the badness of the film actually helps Akshay. Normally people watch a film and if they hate it they’re surprised to discover that someone else has liked the same and the film’s actually worked. But with Akshay so many of his comedies are barely tolerable to poor that the sense is ‘yeah they’re all cheesy and bad and they’re all hits’. The media narrative is more powerful than ever before since it is really the equivalent of carpet bombing! And for the first number of days the media kept screaming it was huge. That narrative set in. now the producers and the trade know what’s going on. But nonetheless this one was sold successfully. After SRK Akshay has been the single best at utilizing the media for his benefit. Now of course everyone has jumped on the bandwagon. The media coverage on most films that the media supports is completely hysterical.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 2:48 PM
Sunil, no need for the asinine insults. You need to leave the immature, condescending, and churlish insults out of your posts. That would greatly benefit you and your point of view when are trying to have normal and decorous discussions with everyone. If you can’t argue your points intelligently without insults then its best to remain silent in my view.
Tashan was a multi-starrer like many of Akshays movies. But he still had one of the lead roles in that movie. Tashan was a flop for Akshay, Saif, and Kareena. So Akshay was indeed a lead actor in all of his movies that went on to flop at box office: Tashan, CCTC, Tasveeer, and KI. Akshay should be judged and critiqued just like any other actor in the same scenario. In the last 2 years he has only had SIK as a highlight. Akshay can’t be considered number one in the industry when he has had so many concentrated flops in his strength genres. However this can quickly change. Akshay has a good chance to get on another winning streak with his next 3 movies.
Next to be seen is Blue. I think we all are eagerly waiting to see how his next 3 movies will fare to see if he can have a turn around. But I stand by everything in my original posts about Akshay and his career graph. also I concur with everything that satyam has laid out thus far. So we will agree to disagree.
LikeLike
October 16, 2009 at 12:38 PM
eire,if you beleive that Tashan is a regular release or KI is a flop then it is upto you.If you make false claims anyone will refute them.
since you asked for intellectual argument
shahrukh 3 hits after 2006.
Akshay has 5 hits.
Aamir has 2 hits after 2006.
Akshay has 5 hits.
Hrithik has 1 hit after 2006.
Akshay has 5 hits.
Akshay might soon have another hit.
Volume should be considered.
you are only couunting the flops.
Anycase I made a hypothetic statement.
LikeLike
October 16, 2009 at 12:47 PM
Sunil.. volume is what really helped Akshay in ’07.. I also agree that volume keeps a star’s profile high… BUT the problem recently is that volume precisely has been Akshay’s problem.. it’s now like an inversion of ’07.. consider the releases beginning with Tashan and then going through SIK, CCTC, Tasveer, KI, Blue. He has 1 hit in five releases. If Blue doesn’t work which looks likely judging from the reviews he’d have 1 in 6. That’s very poor with so many major releases. Also remember that no one makes a KI to just get a recovery (by the way this film has lost money in very many places.. it tanked too fast.. it didn’t even pull in a good week 1 number). I can exclude Tasveer because this isn’t Akshay’s scene and no one probably even remembers it. But Tashan and CCTC weren’t promised as spoofs. Nonetheless I didn’t think the failures of these films meant much earlier because I recognized these weren’t regular comedies. But he needed to hit the bull’s eye with KI and he didn’t. So you can only offer so many excuses. Now it’s absolutely true that his huge initial is intact. But even this cannot be taken for granted. The audience starts getting wary, the WOM starts mattering more (this is why KI didn’t have a big week 1 number). Again Blue not working wouldn’t surprise me in the least, even the reviews confirm what I was expecting all along. But why is Akshay selecting such stuff? If you’re not doing offbeat stuff and the like you cannot offer these excuses. All said and done looks like a certain hit but that would have to begin a string for him once more. Because he does many films. Volume is necessary but the star in question also has to maintain a certain success ratio. Note that Hrithik has three hits in a row. Aamir last had a flop with MP and that too would probably have done better than KI today! SRK has three as well. A distributor would consider these factors! Having said all of this if Blue somehow works he could have two in a row with DDD and he’d be fine for now.
LikeLike
October 16, 2009 at 1:59 PM
BoC:
BO: Blue opens better than All The Best, Main Aurr Mrs Khanna
Story By: MANISHA PRADHAN SINGH updated on: Oct 16, 2009
MUMBAI: The much touted Diwali releases – Blue, Main Aurr Mrs Khanna and All The Best have released and riding ahead of the other is the Akshay Kumar starrer Blue.
The movie has opened exceptionally well with approximately 70 – 80 per cent occupancy at some theatres, whereas it is running to full house at some theatres. On the other hand, the Salman Khan – Kareena Kapoor starrer Main Aurr Mrs Khanna and Ajay Devgn and Sanjay Dutt starrer All The Best have not done as expected. Both the movies opened in the range of approximately 20 – 50 per cent.
Speaking to Businessofcinema.com, Fun Cinemas chief operating officer Vishal Kapur said, “Blue opened really well and we are almost 80 per cent booked over the weekend but the reviews of the film have not been really good. The audience coming out of the theatres have not really liked the film. Main Aurr Mrs. Khanna has had an average response with about 40 – 50 per cent, while All the Best has been the lowest of the lot with 20 per cent.”
Fame cinemas AVP distribution, programming and corporate sales Aditya Shroff added, “The response to all the three films has been mixed. Blue has definitely opened very well and it should keep up till Monday night since it’s the holiday weekend. All The Best and Main Aurr Mrs. Khanna has been a below average opening. This could also be due to the fact today being pre-Diwali most of the people are busy with Diwali preparations. Maybe once Diwali gets over and people are free these films will pick up.”
“Blue is a film that’s worth watching once, people are not coming in to watch a story but more for the action because of all the hype that was created, people are curious to see it. The reaction so far has been good, it has opened really well and it’s still picking up. Main Aurr Mrs. Khanna is more of a family film and while most of the Salman fans have liked the film, the opening has been average at 40 per cent and we are expecting it to go up by evening. Having said that, these four days all the three movies should do good business since it’s a long weekend,” says Cinemax senior vice president strategy Devang Sampat.
LikeLike
October 16, 2009 at 4:36 PM
IBOS update:
Diwali Box Office: 1. Blue 2. All The Best 3. Mr. aur Mrs. Khanna
Friday, October 16, 2009
There appears to be a surprise result developing this Diwali as Rohit Shetty’s Ajay Devgan produced and starrer, All the Best in many single screens has taken the Diwali lead over Akshay Kumar’s mammoth budget Blue as well Salman Khan’s home production Mr. aur Mrs. Khanna starring Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor along with Sohail Khan.
The opening for Blue on Friday morning was in the range of 50-60%, while All the Best was around 60-70% and MAMK last at 25-30%, though with volumes of screenings being higher for Blue means the opening day collections for the Akshay Kumar starrer were the highest of the films running. However the film’s cost and budget demanded a far bigger opening than what it has witnessed and given the reports are said to be mixed, it’s a wait-and-see situation for this action adventure venture.
The poor opening of Main aur Mrs. Khanna on the other hand has once again shown that Salman Khan’s popularity at the box office is more film to film and not so consistently solid that an initial will be there just because the actor is starring in it. As it is even Wanted had a subpar opening and picked up only in single screens and essentially flopped in the multiplexes. This film coming on the heels of the billed ‘success’ has affirmed the above. And while it is not surprising that MAMK opened worse than Blue, it is surprising that it has opened worse than All the Best which is an Ajay Devgan production and starrer, and who’s certainly not a superstar. Or perhaps it is not so surprising in that it indicates the public on Diwali prefers lighthearted comedies in celebratory times. If so, it shows content and genre can outdraw the current ‘star system’ perceptions in Bollywood. Fortunately for Salman Khan, another film featuring him, London Dreams costarring the same Ajay Devgan and Asin and made by Vipul Shah, is carrying better reports and is expected to fare better. However the news is worse for Kareena Kapoor, whose claims of being #1 are rather dubious and belied by box office performance of films she shows up in. After an underwhelming Kambakht Ishq opposite Akshay Kumar earlier this year, MAMK is a total dud from her. Even Kareena Kapoor’s publicized hits like Jab We Met have been relatively tiny grossers and some films with major studio backing and budget, like Tashan, have crashed shockingly.
Meanwhile Ranbir Kapoor’s Wake Up Sid is holding steady in multiplexes despite reduced screenings due to the Diwali releases. His next release coming up is Ajab Prem Ki Ghajab Kahani for Raj Kumar Santoshi and should definitely benefit from the success of Wake Up Sid.
Amitabh Bachchan-Sanjay Dutt starrer Aladin will release a week before that on October 30th. The title role for this Arabian Nights saga is being enacted by Ritesh Deshmukh. The more awaited film from the Bachchan stable this year is the film titled Paa by the Cheeni Kum director R. Balkrishnan, which will have as its USP the revelation that Amitabh Bachchan will be reintroduced as the son of Abhishek Bachchan. Paa will release on December 4th. Director Balkrishnan was able to deliver a hit in Cheeni Kum with a difficult topic of older man-younger woman romance. So he’ll be on easier ground here boxofficewise. Vidyaa Balan will play the romantic lead opposite Abhishek Bachchan in this one.
Coming with Paa on Dec 4 will be Himesh Reshammiya’s urban romantic-drama ‘Radio’. Unlike the Bachchan film, the promos of the film starring the singer-actor with heroine Shenaz Treasurywala are already on the airwaves in full swing. The music is popular.
The first look of Aamir Khan led 3 Idiots was also revealed this week and has generated curiosity for its expected irreverant humor and drama set on the book ‘Five Point Someone’ by Chetan Bhagat, on and about the life at the IITs, India’s top engineering institutes.
3 Idiots release date is set for Christmas amidsts heavy expectations as post 2006, Aamir Khan starrers are averaging a gross of around Rs. 100 crores each, highest of any contemporary star. Furthermore the film is being directed by Raju Hirani who had earlier directed the blockbuster Lage Raho Munnabhai in the year 2006.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 3:16 PM
Sunil, I obviously wasn’t looking at his career pre-Yuva! Of course even pre-Yuva he never had those kinds of projects. Refugee actually was above average because of the initial. It probably trended better than KI. But looking at it pre-Yuva is a bit like looking at Bachchan pre-Zanjeer. Anyway I have celebrated Akshay for the longest time when people were laughing at me for doing so. I remember putting him in a list of elite stars right after Hey Babyy. I brought up Abhishek here because he is often offered as the touchstone on box office failure and I tried to put it in perspective but I of course also examined all the other top stars. The problem is that everything cannot be seen through the prism of being partial to a star. I know in the blogosphere this happens a lot but one should still be able to discriminate among those who have strong favorites and argue every single matter based on whether it serves their partisan interests or not and those who have those very same favorites but who nonetheless argue sincerely. SM usually chides me for adding a qualifier everytime I talk about a Salman success (by saying I am not a fan and so on) but this is the reason I do so. Because even though I quite dislike Salman onscreen (not offscreen where I actually have affection for him) I did like the fact that Wanted worked. Much as I actually do not watch most Akshay comedies at all but I am invested in his success and would be quite happy if I were wrong on Blue. One can argue with my ideological project but for me Bachchan fits into it or defines it better than anyone else. But it certainly not at odds with it.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 12:40 PM
thanks jay for the number :
i was surprised to see to some trade online outlets are desperately calling wus as clean hit …..indian box office and transparency hardly goes in hand or its the dharma’s goodwill sorry to say trade has gone overboard with dostana to
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 1:10 PM
Akshay’s been on slide a while for me. I’d say as far back as SIK. Even though the film was a hit and a big grosser I think the film itself as a viewer was flat and disappointing considering the hype. I felt Akshay was flat too in general barring the first few minutes of the film. He is suffering from being pigeon holed but I do think films like Blue and Action Replay are the better direction then say DDD or KI. The latter was pure crass, the former eludes to a successful formula but how is such a film going to “add” to his clamour as a star or actor? Isn’t it a case of “been there done that”…much like a lot of SRK’s choices in the new millenium between 2001-2004.
I agree CCTC was spoofish but the “grand”ness surrounding the hype and publicity was false then. Should have been publicised more appropriately. It was behaving like an OSO, Ghajini type of hype but missed it completely.
Action Replay sounds interesting, but he definitely needs to start doing interesting projects otherwise audiences will just get bored.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 3:21 PM
agreed on all counts. Thought of making the SIK point myself but didn’t want to seem too harsh. I think Akshay (and I’ve long said this) really needs to reinvent himself in the Wanted mold where he gets back to his action roots but can also incorporate enough comedy. Because of his associations the projects would be bigger (female lead, music et al) but this formula would work in a big way with him. He would get the initial Salman couldn’t for Wanted. The rest would follow. Unfortunately (and this is the strangest thing!) Akshay himself is willing to try Tasveer and CCTC and Blue before going for the obvious. The answer in a simple word is ‘prestige’! Within whatever limitations he has Akshay nonetheless wants to do something ‘better’. For him I think this is a total mistake. He needs to ride the masala bandwagon as long as he can. It should either be a full masala mix like Wanted and this could then be alternated with comedies. I don’t believe he can ever do a Ghajini because he’s so associated with comedy now that he’ll have to satisfy this base one way or the other. But as I see it he could be in a very commanding position for a while as long as he understands this opening. Of course he’ll have to enable this. No one in Bombay is really capable of masala. He’ll have to approach people in the South and this I am skeptical of.
LikeLike
October 13, 2009 at 12:13 AM
Agree on SIK and CCTC! Yeah ACTION REPLAY looks good….!
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 2:58 PM
“””Re: You talk as if Bachchan fans have been running down Kambakht Ishq more than others. There is no evidence for this claim — if anything, on the internet it seems to me to be fans of other stars who have expended energies running Kambakht Ishq down.”””
I could not concur more with this statement. The insults and generalisations are out of order. But in any regard the Bachcan fans are not after Akshay. So the insult is moot. I’m actually a fan of Akshay. So I have no reason to run him down or his career. I merely judged him and the performance of his movies in the same way that other actor’s would be judged in the exact same scenario. I would like to see Akshay make a comeback with better movies at the box office. I hope to see Akshay esaay better roles in better movies. If a well written movie came along I too would not like to see Abhishek and Akshay work together again. Let’s see how everything fares onward for for all of the actor’s.
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 4:00 PM
Here is an article where a couple trade pundits places their bet that All the Best will be the victory during Diwali. However the article also writes that Taran Adarsh is a trade expert. So that kind of negates the validity of the article. LOL
Reserve the best for this Diwali
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Reserve-the-best-for-this-Diwali/articleshow/5115447.cms
LikeLike
October 12, 2009 at 11:56 PM
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/trade/top5/index.html
LikeLike
October 13, 2009 at 2:12 AM
My response is to asinine comment that Abhishek didn’t have that many concentrated flops as Akshay.No need to bring Abhishek here.Ofcourse KI is a flop for shahrukh,hrithik fanatics also.
Eire,year by year analysis will be better for any star.
About sarkar raj it is above average and BOI always gives biased verdicts for Abhishek’s films.But BOI will not give above average to KI if it is a flop.Its that simple.Hrithik fans are paranoid about Akshay’s success.
LikeLike
October 13, 2009 at 8:47 AM
I stand by that statement Sunil.. since Yuva Abhishek has not had that many ‘major’ projects that turned out to be JBJ-like or Tashan-like or CCTC-like disasters. By the way I brought many other stars into it also.
LikeLike
October 13, 2009 at 9:00 AM
I don’t think JBJ or Tashan or CCTC (at 25cr, 28cr & 30cr respectively) can be termed as disasters. Flops – Yes but surely not disasters.
Drona is what we call a true disaster at 10cr.
LikeLike
October 13, 2009 at 9:11 AM
One distributor from Jalandhar died due to heart attack after losing his money in Dharmendra starrer “Shalimar” … What i heard he was so sure about movie that during release he make arrangements of flags alongside the road to cinema. But he couldn’t survive the real fate of movie.
This is called true disaster.
Don’t think this kind of incident happens to any movies above, not even Drona.
LikeLike
October 13, 2009 at 9:37 AM
By that standard yes! But that’s a low one. LOL!
Drona made between 10-15 crores! The lowest bar imaginable!
LikeLike
October 13, 2009 at 8:54 AM
BLUE Is All Set To Win The Opening Battle
Monday saw slight improvement(2%) in BLUE Advance bookings, However others two players hardly show any improvement. Advance booking status till Monday evening was as follows(NCR) :
BLUE : 17%
ALL THE BEST : 11%
MAMK : 8%
Now the biggest concern is with not so encouraging advance bookings till now, Even the leading player opening will be up to the mark? Not really!!
check here
http://bollybusiness.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/blue-is-all-set-to-win-the-opening-battle/
LikeLike
October 13, 2009 at 10:49 AM
WUS might net 30 crores a clean hit.
LikeLike
October 14, 2009 at 4:15 PM
IBOS:
Last week, Karan Johar’s Ranbir Kapoor starrer Wake Up Sid couldn’t capitalize on the strong word of mouth and critics’ support to the extent possible probably because of the limited release of under 500 prints. Nonethless with a 20 crore gross, it was easily able to trump the opening of supposedly ‘mass’ targeted Govinda-Ritesh Deshmukh starrer Do Knot Disturb. The latter, despite twice the number of prints as Wake Up Sid failed in the turnout and collections comparisions as it was outright rejected and flopped on the initial day itself. Govinda will be seen in a high profile project in the Abhishek Bachchan-Aishwarya Rai starrer Ravan, while Ritesh Deshmukh will try his luck soon in Aladin, with some help from Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt. He also may be seen in Milap Zaveri’s Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai with Ruslan Mumtaz and Jackie Fernandes.
Sanjay Gupta’s Acid Factory has tapered out with under 15% collections over the weekend.
This week leads into Diwali, which happens to be typically the biggest box office weekend of India ahead of the other high profile holiday-weekends of the year. Usually even average movies get a boost from release on Diwali since Indian public is more keen to spend on movies and such things relatively liberally during this period.
In terms of box office, what this year has is an interesting showdown between two top 10 stars in Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar, with Salman Khan’s home production ‘Mr. and Mrs. Khanna’ costarring Kareena Kapoor, Sohail Khan and Preity Zinta, going up on October 16th against ‘Blue’, the Akshay Kumar led release, which is also supported by Lara Dutta, Katrina Kaif, Sanjay Dutt, and a special appearance by Australian star Kylie Minogue.
Blue is the more expensive of the two, having been shot largely near Australian underwaters. While Mr. aur Mrs. Khanna has an advantage of genre and a star billed recently successful. In particular, MAMK’s initial will test how much boost Salman Khan has gotten from public post Wanted. As both Akshay Kumar’s Kambakht Ishq and Wanted have done business of around 50 crores in India. Neither KI nor Wanted managed to be universally successful grosser but given one (KI) has been dubbed below expectation, the other (Wanted) above expectation, so this week’s results will help set the case of future expectation and market prices for future films of both the stars.
However one film that may end up stealing the show on Diwali by itself is Rohit Shetty’s Ajay Devgan-Sanjay Dutt-Fardeen Khan, Bipasha Basu starrer All the Best. Last year’s Golmaal 2 with Devgan-Shetty combo had led to that film recording huge collections during Diwali, ahead of opening of all the 2008 blockbusters apart from Ghajini.
As of Wednesday advance booking reports showed a close call between Blue and All the Best, and Mr. aur Mrs. Khanna trailing the two.
LikeLike
October 14, 2009 at 4:17 PM
the odd thing is that IBOS have a 16 crore nett for WUS off a 20 crore gross. I know that the taxation on multiplexes is close to zero but this is still a remarkably small spread.
LikeLike
October 14, 2009 at 4:18 PM
IBOS have almost 51 crores in 3 weeks for Wanted and a bit over 16 crores for WUS.
LikeLike
October 16, 2009 at 9:56 AM
BOI:
Blue has recorded a fantastic opening all over be it multiplexes in metroes or small single screen in C centres. The first day business should come out better than the other two films combined.
LikeLike