Premam US box office collection: Chandoo scores biggest opener for Naga Chaitanya

Director Chandoo Mondeti's Premam has opened to superb response at the US box office in Thursday's premiere shows to become the biggest opener for Naga Chaitanya in the country.

Premam is a remake of the Malayalam movie with the same name. Its success had created a lot of curiosity about the Telugu film. The promos had also garnered decent amount of public attention for the movie.

BlueSky Cinemas, which vied hands with other overseas distributors, acquired its theatrical rights for whopping amount, which is said to a record price for Naga Chaitanya's solo movie.

BlueSky Cinemas arranged over 75 screens across North America for the paid review of the Naga Chaitanya and Shruti Haasan starrer movie on Thursday. The hype and promotion helped the film register decent amount of advance booking for the premiere shows. Trade experts predicted that the movie would have superb opening in the country.

The Chandoo Mondeti-directed movie registered fantastic occupancy in the preview shows. Its collection figures are still being compiled. If we are to go by early hours estimates, Premam has collected $75,000 from 120 screens at the US box office in the Thursday premieres.

Naga Chaitanya's 2014 release Autonagar Surya collected $38,595 (Rs 23.17 lakh) at the US box office in the previews. His 2015 film Dohchay raked in $41,300 at the US box office in the premiere shows and it is biggest opener for the actor in the country. Now, Premam has beaten both records and become the biggest opener for him.

The audience in the US have lapped up Premam and the word of mouth is expected to help it do well at the ticket counters in the country on its opening day. On its first day, the movie is likely to beat the record of Dohchay, which collected a total of $130,535 (Rs 83.25 lakh) at the US box office in its opening weekend.