By Hindustan Times
This week, a Hollywood superhero sci-fi flick has streaked past a star-studded Bollywood biggie on the box-office. The Avengers netted in around Rs. 15 crore over the weekend in India, while the Anil Kapoor-Ajay Devgn Tezz managed only Rs. 11.25 crore says trade analyst Komal Nahta, adding, “Tezz is a non-starter and for the reason that summer vacations are on and there’s no strong Bollywood release this week, The Avengers is probably going to maintain going strong.”
The Marvel Studios’ multi-star cast action adventure arrived on Indian shores with 800-plus screens, in 3D, IMAX 3D and 2D. In conjunction with the English version, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu-dubbed versions also are packing within the crowds.
According to UTV Films that’s distributing the film in India, The Avengers collected Rs. 4.01 crore on Friday, Rs. 4.67 crore on Saturday and Rs. 5.32 crore on Sunday. The studio claims that it's the third biggest Hollywood weekend after Avatar (2009) and Mission Impossible 1V: Ghost Protocol (2011).
“This is a case study of the way Hollywood movies in India may also be maximised using the similar aggressive marketing and distribution strategies that we've got adapted for large Hindi releases like Jodhaa Akbar (2008) and Rajneeti (2010) within the past,” says UTV CEO Siddharth Roy Kapoor.
Sunil Punjabi, CEO, Cinemax, says that The Avengers opened in 82 screens in his theatre chain and registered 90 per cent occupancy over the weekend. “Vicky Donor sustained its impact throughout the second weekend with 95% occupancy in 48 screens, but Tezz was sluggish with 20-30 percent occupancy in 45 screens,” he says, attributing the Bollywood biggie’s failure to the dearth of content. “If it was just competition from the Hollywood film that killed Tezz then Vicky Donor will need to have dropped too but that was not the case.”
Tezz was reportedly made for Rs. 40 crore and will run into losses, even after selling its satellite and residential video rights.
Figure this
MI4
Rs. 17.53 crore*
Avatar
Rs. 15.22 crore*
The Avengers
Rs. 14 crore*
2012
Rs. 13.78 crore*
Spiderman 3
Rs. 13.38 crore*
*First weekend collections for high five Hollywood films in India
Vicky hits bull’s eye
Trade expert Taran Adarsh says Vicky Donor is a “hit”, taking its 10-day total to nearly Rs. 22 crore. Ram Mirchandani of Rampage Motion Pictures, one in all film’s co-producers, says: “We expect a complete choice of Rs. 35 crore to Rs. 38 crore from India alone.”
