When will an Indian film expand into more theaters in the US? By Sujeet Rajan WASHINGTON, DC: PK has officially become the first Indian film to break into the hallowed $100 million mark, with latest figures putting the Rajkumar Hirani-directed venture starring the inimitable Aamir Khan as having crossed the Rs. 635 crores gross, including both the domestic and international markets. In the US, the social satire PK is now at the 24th position when it comes to foreign films at the box office, according to boxofficemojo. PK has made till date $10,498,605, having released on December 19th. Leading the list is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with $128,078,872; a remarkable feat considering that the Chinese martial arts extravaganza released more than 14 years ago, and the closest that any film has got to it is less than half that number at the box office: the heart-warming Italian comedy Life is Beautiful with $57,563,264 – second at the box office. While PK can gloat at pulping the other Khan starrers at the US box office with relative ease, including Aamir’s own Dhoom 3, and Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan masala potboilers, it still won’t surpass Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding, which having raked in $13,885,966 more than 12 years ago, is firmly entrenched at the 14th spot. The Bollywood film behind PK is Dhoom 3 with $8,031,955, taking the 32nd spot. The only other Indian film in the top 50 list is 3 Idiots with $6,532,874, at the 48th spot. Aamir Khan is the lead in all three of them. All that pales though when it comes to Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, the most successful film to be shot in India, and which won eight Oscars. It made a mammoth $377,910,544 overall, with more than $141 million coming from the US box office itself. However, the film is not considered a foreign film, but a US release. In the top five after Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Life is Beautiful, is Hero ($53,710,019), Instructions Not Included ($44,467,206) and Pan’s Labyrinth ($37,634,615). Numbers drop dramatically after Amelie ($33,225,499) at 6th spot, with films from the 7th to the 10th rankings, all in the $20 million range. This includes the classic French comedy La Cage aux Folles ($20,424,259) released in 1979, at the 10th spot. Jet Li’s Fearless, Il Postino and Like Water for Chocolate are in the 7-9th places, respectively. PK is within striking distance of being in the top 20 list, with four films above it all in the $11 million range: House of flying Daggers ($20,424,259) – 23rd; Brotherhood of the Wolf ($11,260,096) – 22nd; The Lives of Others ($11,286,112) – 21st, and Das Boot, the classic from Germany, which released in 1982 ($11,487,676) – 20th. Though still running in some cities in the US, PK, however, is not likely to make too much more as its run is almost expended. The remarkable feature of PK is also the fact that despite being at the 24th spot overall at present, it has the 7th best opening weekend in the history of the US box office for foreign films. It made a phenomenal $3,565,258 from its release in 272 theaters. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon in comparison made a paltry $663,205 from 16 theaters, and then gradually expanded to 2,027 theaters as it blew away the audiences with its special effects. Hero with a massive $18,004,319, from a total of 2,031 theaters occupies the number one spot in that category of opening weekend blockbusters though. Jet Li’s Fearless with $10,590,244 from 1,806 theaters – making more than PK till now in a mere 3 days – is another big success story in that aspect. So here comes the crucial question then: what if PK had released in more US theaters than its 272 theaters, which has remained the same despite its massive opening weekend success. How much more money would it have made? Going through the list of foreign films that have turned out big numbers at the US box office, it’s apparent that Bollywood films have the tendency to make a huge Diwali like splash on its opening weeken
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 02:08:01 +0000
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