Telugu movies Awe and Tholi Prema starring Varun Tej have made a superb collection at the US box office on Saturday, inching closer to the half million and 1 million respectively in the country.
Actor-turned-producer Nani's fanbase and the huge hype generated by its promos helped Awe to garner a fantastic response in North America in the Thursday premiere. The strong word of mouth boosted its collection on Friday. The movie collected $268,314 at the US box office on Friday and Thursday together.
Film trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted, "Telugu film #Awe debuts at No 21 at USA BO... The encouraging start should help it cross half-million mark over the weekend... Thu previews $ 126,851 Fri $ 140,629 / 106 locations Total: $ 267,480 [₹ 1.72 cr] @Rentrak
Its collection in the US was higher than it managed to bag in India. Idlebrain Jeevi tweeted, "#Awe is being appreciated in USA very well compared to India. It collects $141,514 on Friday by taking total gross to $268,314. It's hourly gross at 10 am PST on Saturday is 21,896. Expecting it to touch half million mark by weekend! "
The multi-starrer movie has shown big jump in its business on Saturday. As per early estimates, Awe has collected $163,008 at the US box office on its second day and this number is likely to go beyond $200,000, when the final figures are revealed. It is set to cross $0.5 mark in the first weekend.
Idlebrain Jeevi tweeted, "#Awe collects $163,008 from 100 locations by 12 midnight PST on Saturday. Total USA gross so far is $423,890. Excellent "
On the other hand, Tholi Prema, which was released in the cinema halls on February 8, made a superb collection at the US box office in the first week. But experts from the industry were keeping their fingers on its collection in its second weekend. However, the film has kept the cash registers ringing at the ticket counters
Tholi Prema collected $39,068 at the US box office on its second Friday, taking its total collection to $822,843. Idlebrain Jeevi tweeted, "#TholiPrema collects $39,068 from 75 locations in USA on 2nd Friday and total gross is $822,843. Slowly inching towards Million dollar mark! "
Tholi Prema has shown a good jump on Saturday and as per early updates and collected $55,795 at the US box office. Its nine-day total collection is likely to touch $900,000.