'Sardar Gabbar Singh' box office collection: Pawan Kalyan's film struggles to cross $1-million mark in US

Pawan Kalyan's "Sardar Gabbar Singh" (Sardaar/SGS) received record breaking response at the U.S. box office in the premiere show, but the movie has failed to show growth in the first weekend.

Power Star Pawan Kalyan has huge fan following in North America and the promos of "Sardar Gabbar Singh" had created lot of curiosity among his fans in the country. Following the huge hype, Eros International and iDream Media acquired its overseas distribution rights for a record price of Rs 10.5 crore. They released the movie in 172 cinema halls across North America Friday.

Its distributors held premieres in over 300 screens Thursday night and increased its ticket price to $25 in some centres. "Sardar Gabbar Singh" had decent amount of advance booking and it collected $615,853 at the U.S. box office in the paid preview shows. It shattered the record of "Srimanthudu," which collected $555k in the premieres and became the second biggest Tollywood opener of all time after "Baahubali."

Trade analyst in T-Town predicted that the Bobby-directed action film would go on strength to strength to on the following days and cross the $2-million mark at the U.S. box office in its opening weekend. But the movie garnered mixed response from the audience and the word of mouth took to toll on its collection. When collected to its business in the premieres, the movie showed a 70 percent drop in Friday.

The Pawan Kalyan and Kajal Aggarwal-starrer further witnessed a dip in its collection Saturday. After seeing the drop, some trade experts felt that "Sardar Gabbar Singh" might not cross the $1-million mark at the U.S. box office in its opening weekend, while others hoped it would achieve this feat.

Taran Adarsh tweeted April 9, "Telugu film #SardaarGabbarSingh is heading towards $ 1 mn in USA. Thu pre $ 615,853, Fri $ 189,624. Total: $ 805,477 [₹ 5.36 cr]. @Rentrak." He added Sunday, "Telugu film #SardaarGabbarSingh should cross $ 1 million in USA today [Sunday]... Sat $ 141,341. Total: $ 946,718 [₹ 6.30 cr]. @Rentrak."

"Sardar Gabbar Singh" has reportedly collected $1,002,166 at the U.S. box office in the first weekend. Taran Adarsh tweeted, "Telugu film #SardaarGabbarSingh crosses $ 1 million mark on Sun in USA. Sun $ 54,468. Total: $ 1,002,166 [₹ 6.66 cr]. @Rentrak."

Considering the star power of Pawan Kalyan, "Sardaar Gabbar Singh" was expected to smash at least few records of "Bahubali: the Beginning," which has become a landmark victory in the country. Its weekend U.S. total is not even equal to the latter's collection in the premiere shows. The SS Rajamouli-directed film grossed $1,010,550 at the U.S. box office in the preview shows.

Telugu film #SardaarGabbarSingh crosses $ 1 million mark on Sun in USA. Sun $ 54,468. Total: $ 1,002,166 [₹ 6.66 cr]. @Rentrak