Awe box office collection Day 3: Nani's maiden production crosses $500,000 mark in the US

Nani's maiden production Awe has made brilliant collections at the US box office in the first weekend. The multi-starrer thriller has crossed the $500,000 mark in the country in three days

Awe is a small-budget movie starring some popular actors like Kajal Aggarwal, Nithya Menen, Regina Cassandra, Eesha Rebba, Srinivas Avasarala, Priyadarshi Pullikonda and Murali Sharma. But it had tough competition from last week's release Tholi Prema and new release Manasuku Nachindi. The latter marked the debut of Mahesh Babu's sister Manjula Ghattamaneni as an independent director.

But Nani's fame and the hype surrounding Awe helped it register a fantastic opening at the US box office in its premiere shows on Thursday. The movie garnered positive feedback from viewers, and the strong word of mouth boosted its collection at the ticket counters in the country on Friday and Saturday.

Awe movie US box office collection:

Awe collected $181,139 from 109 locations at the US box office on Saturday, taking its two-day total to $448,725. Idlebrain Jeevi tweeted: "#Awe collects $181,139 from 109 locations with per location average of $1,662 in USA on Saturday. Total gross is $448,725. Will cross half a million mark on Sunday! Excellent for such a content oriented film "

Nani's maiden production needed to collect $51,275 to surpass the $500,000 mark. As per early trends, Awe collected $74,584 at the US box office on Sunday, taking its three-day collection beyond the half-million-dollar mark. Idlebrain tweeted: "#Awe collects an hourly gross of $74,584 by 5 pm on Sunday (18 February). Excellent #Tholiprema collects $29,189 by 5 pm on Sunday. Good."

While many Tollywood superstars' really hyped films bombed at the US box office, some content-oriented films have been a ray of sunshine for small-budget filmmakers with their huge success. Now, the superb collection of Awe has reiterated the fact that content is the king and the US audiences are open to accepting a Telugu film if it has a good subject.

Nirvana Cinemas, which has distributed Awe in the US, tweeted: "Today is a defining moment in Telugu Cinema.Movies like #Awe are not always made in the industry and they are the need of the hour.We thank all the audience who thronged the theaters today and supported us. Today marks the Revolution in Telugu Cinema @NameisNani @walpostercinema."