Sukumar's Rangasthalam has made a superb collection at the US box office in the premiere shows and become the biggest opener for mega power star Ram Charan, beating the records of Bruce Lee and Dhruva.
The Mega Family has a huge fanbase in the US, but Ram Charan had failed to exploit it in the past. His latest outing Rangasthalam had huge hype and curiosity surrounding it that made its overseas theatrical rights sell at a record price.
The Sukumar-directed film was premiered in 194 screens across the US. The hype and curiosity generated by its promos had helped it register thunderous response in its advance booking. Rangasthalam collected $378,979 from 136 screens at the US box-office in its pre-sales, five hours before the first premiere show.
Rangasthalam shattered the records of Bruce Lee and Dhruva, which were the biggest openers for Ram Charan with their collection of $285,00 and $232,000, respectively at the US box office in their premieres. It also became the biggest opener for director Sukumar, beating the record of Nannaku Prematho, which minted $355,000 in the US preview shows.
Film critic and trade analyst Idlebrain Jeevi tweeted, "#Rangastalam USA hourly gross at 10:20 am PST is $378,979 from 136 locations with per location average of $2,787. Terrific! It has crosses both Ram Charan ($232k) and Sukumar ($355k) premiere highest numbers. #RangasthalamUSPremieres."
As per latest estimates, Rangasthalam has collected $640,00 from 160 locations at the US box-office in the premiere shows and its per-screen average stands at $4,050. The figures from another 34 screens are yet to be revealed. The movie is expected to surpass the $1 million mark in the country when the final number of its preview shows are revealed.
As per the latest estimates, Rangasthalam has shattered the record of Pawan Kalyan's Sardar Gabbar Singh ($616,000). The movie has become the third biggest opener for the heroes of the Mega Family in the US after Pawan Kalyan's Agnyaathavaasi ($1.51 million) and Chiranjeevi's Khaidi No 150 ($1.29 million). It currently stands at the sixth rank in the all-time highest grossing Telugu movies in the US premieres.
Mythri Movie Makers have produced the Ram Charan and Samantha Akkineni starrer with a whopping budget of Rs 60 crore. Rangasthalam has already become the biggest opener for the production house beating the records of the banner's Janatha Garage ($584,000) and Srimanthudu ($536,000).
When the final figures are revealed, Rangastalam is expected to smash the record of Mahesh Babu's Spyder, which collected $1,005,630 at the US box office in the premiere shows. If it beats this record, it will land in the fifth rank in the all-time highest grossing Telugu movies in the US for preview shows.
