Shah Rukh Khan's two-week-old movie "Happy New Year" (HNY) seems to have hit a new low in the key international markets, as it has made a poorer collection than the animated "Chaar Sahibzaade", which has done a brilliant business from less number of screens.
"Chaar Sahibzaade" is a 3D animated movie, which depicts the historical events that lead to the shaheedi of the four sons of Guru Gobind Singh. The film has been simultaneously made and released in three languages such as English, Hindi and Punjabi. Having received a superb response, the film has taken a toll on the business of "Happy New Year" at the overseas box office in its opening weekend.
"Chaar Sahibzaade" topped the business chart in foreign countries such as the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Although the multi-lingual 3D film has landed in the second spot in the US business chart, its per-screen average is much higher than that of "Happy New Year".
"Happy New Year" has shown a big dip in the international business centres. In its third weekend, the movie has raked in $152,568 from 89 screens at the USA box office, taking its 17-day total to $2,837,809 (₹17.44 crore). Whereas, "Chaar Sahibzaade" has collected $91,505 from 15 screens (₹56.24 lakh). Considering its screen count, its collection is much higher than that of the SRK starrer.
"Chaar Sahibzaade" has collected £81,348 (₹79.45 lakhs) from 16 screens in the UK, A$141,387 (₹75.31 lakhs) from 22 screens in Australia and NZ$33,832 (₹16.20 lakhs) from 7 screens in New Zealand in the first weekend.
The movie has pushed "Happy New Year" down to second place in all these countries.
The SRK-Deepika Padukone starrer has minted $152,568 (₹93.81 lakh) from 89 screens in the USA, US$ 56,012 (₹34.43 lakh) from 17 screens in Canada, £66,239 (₹64.83 lakh) from 34 screens in the UK, A$ 34,804 (₹18.59 lakh) from 18 screens in Australia, NZ$ 7,241 (₹3.48 lakh) from 11 screens in New Zealand and MYR30,661 (₹5.64 lakh) from 9 screens in Malaysia in its third weekend.
In its third weekend, "Happy New Year" has collected approximately $359,115 (₹2.20 crore) from 178 screens at the overseas box office, taking its 17-day international total to $13,354,157 (₹82.30 crore).
Meanwhile, "Chaar Sahibzaade" has raked in $369,598 (₹2.27 crore) from 60 screens at the international box office in its opening weekend.
