Mersal vs Raja The Great box office collection: Vijay film leads race, beats Ravi Teja movie in US

Vijay's Tamil film Mersal has registered a better collection than Ravi Teja's Telugu movie Raja The Great at the US box office in Tuesday's premiere shows and leads the race at the ticket counters.

Mersal has been one of the most hyped movies due to several reasons. The hit Theri combo -- superstar Vijay and director Atlee Kumar -- had created a lot of curiosity about the film. On the other hand, Raja The Great marks the comeback of mass maharaja Ravi Teja and also had huge hype. It was predicted that it would be a big clash between the two films at the US box office.

Mersal was premiered in 250 screens in 150 locations across North America on October 17. Over 50 percent of the screens opened advance booking a day before its preview show and most of them sold out for premieres!

Mersal collected $103,787 at the US box office in the advance sales for its premiere. ATMUS Entertainment‏ tweeted: "#Mersal USA Premiere advance sales $103787 from 71 screens as of 10am EST. Starts with a century in style!"

With the premieres over, the distributors are now busy compiling the numbers. But early estimates show that Mersal collected $300,000 at the US box office in the premiere shows on Tuesday. The movie has shattered the record of Vijay-Atlee's previous film Theri, which minted $251,000 in its US premieres.

Noted south India's trade analyst Idlebrain Jeevi‏ tweeted: "#Mersal premiere sales as of 7:30 pm PST is $300k. It already crossed #Theri's premiere no $251k from same combo!"

On the other hand, Telugu movie Raja the Great, which is distributed by BlueSky Cinemas, was premiered in over 105 screens across North America. The movie had a decent advance booking and registered a good response in preview shows across the country on Tuesday.

As per early estimates, Raja The Great has collected $117,400 from 90 screens at the US box office in the premiere shows. The movie has shattered the record of Kick 2, which was the biggest opener for Ravi Teja with its collection of $116,800 in US premieres.