Wolverine Claws Its Way To Top Slot At Box Office
By SAMPURNMonday, June 22, 2009
Mutant superhero film ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ has not only become a blockbuster hit abroad but has struck a strong cord with the Indian audiences too.
A 20th Century Fox film starring Hugh Jackman, the film opened in India on June 19th in English and Hindi and has garnered one of the highest openings among Hollywood films in India, beating films like ‘Fast and the furious 4’, ‘Angels and Demons’, ‘The Dark Knight’, ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’.
The film has grossed more than Rs. 2 Crores in its opening day itself. The first 2 days have seen theatres running houseful across all regions of the country.
Says Mr. Vijay Singh, CEO, Fox Star Studios India, "We’ve had a strong opening for X-Men Origins: Wolverine across the country. The audience reaction has been very positive which is helping build great word of mouth for the film as a must see film!"
Here are some reports:
North
* Interiors of Ghaziabad cinemas morning shows as early as 9.30am were full
* The shows are full in centres like Gorakhpur too.
* At some centres the opening is comparable to that of blockbuster Spiderman-3
Sanjay Ghai of Mukta Arts, the leading distributor in North India says “It’s the best opening for a Hollywood film in Delhi-UP and East Punjab”
* DT Saket and Spice Noida are running 14 shows daily, while DT Vasantkunj opening today is running 11shows daily
The Programming Head at DT Cinemas, Amit Shah says “This is the highest collection (1.22lacs) recorded for any movie (Hollywood or Bollywood) in a single day since DT Saket opened and hence we have planned 11 shows daily at our new plex opening today (Saturday) at Vasantkunj.”
West
* Opening is as big as Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire with less number of prints
* Most shows are running houseful in Tier II cities like Aurangabad and Solapur
* Most of the single screens have covered their rental on opening day itself
South
* Prasad Hyderabad has given 11 shows for the film, which is unprecedented for any Hollywood film and still has got an 80% opening, which is expected to become 100% over the weekend.
* Even Kerala has seen one of the biggest openings for any Hollywood film in recent times
According to Mr T Srikanth, General Manager Operations – Prasad Imax Hyderabad, “Inspite of releasing the movie in 17 screens in twin cities (Hyderabad and Secunderabad) the movie has opened well in Prasad clocking 80 pc for the 1st day. We are expecting to reach between 90-100 pc for Sat - Sun as the report of the movie is good. Also recently no English movie has done well in the Nizam circuit and we are sure that this movie will put an end to that dry run.”
Mr Suresh Shenoy of Sridhar theatre Ernakulam is also pleased with the kind of response the 4th edition of X men as received in Kerala. The previous editions of X Men never got the opening that Wolverine got especially in Ernakulam, Trivandrum and Calicut. This proves that there are still audience left in Kerala for good English flicks.
Internationally, ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ has grossed $160 million in its opening weekend and has crossed 350$ million worldwide and still counting. The film had got the best opening for the year and is on its way to become one of the biggest grosser out of Hollywood this year, beating flicks like Fast and the Furious 4 and Terminator Salvation in terms of box office collections not only in the US, but also worldwide.
Released under the banner of 20th Century Fox (Fox Star Studios India), ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ stars Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds, Live Schreiber and Dominic Monaghan and is Directed by Gavin Hood.
Here Hugh Jackman reprises the role that made him a superstar – as the fierce fighting machine who possesses amazing healing powers, retractable claws and a primal fury. Leading up to the events of X-MEN, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE tells the story of Wolverine’s epically violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with Victor Creed, and the ominous Weapon X program. Along the way, Wolverine encounters many mutants, both familiar and new, including surprise appearances by several legends of the X-Men universe whose appearances in the film series have long been anticipated.
