Salman Khan’s ‘Sultan’ Storms Bollywood, Offshore Box Office; Sets New Records
by Nancy Tartaglione
July 11, 2016 6:18am
Yash Raj
Salman Khan cemented his status as a titan of Bollywood this weekend with Sultan setting new benchmarks in its release in India and elsewhere. Falling on the Eid holiday which has become synonymous with Khan, Sultan made 180.36 crore ($27.1M) on about 4,000 screens in India, per local estimates. That sets a new all-time opening weekend record for Bollywood and far outdistances the No. 2 film, Khan’s own Prem Ratan Dhan Payo from 2015. It’s not exactly apples-to-apples as PRDP bowed on a Thursday and Sultan had a Wed-Sun debut. However, even if we stripped Sultan of the Wednesday gross, the film still largely overtakes PRDP‘s first frame of 129.77 crore last year. Khan now has four films in the Top 10 all-time openers; more than any of his contemporaries.
In 15 global markets tracked by comScore, the total on the Yash Raj Films title for the FSS was $20.4M with a $32.23M cume across the 5-day. It’s not often a Bollywood movie enters the top ranks on an international weekend, particularly one very dominated by Chinese and studio fare. But Khan was absent from screens for the past nine months and thus Sultan became an event for fans which landed it squarely in the Top 10 this week.
Outside India, the UAE and GCC countries scored the biggest haul at 25.17 crore ($3.8M). In North America, Sultan set a 2016 record for Bollywood with $2.22M in the 3-day and $3.23M for the 5-day — besting the lifetime’s of all Hindi releases this year in its first frame.
Back at home, rushing past the 100 crore mark — a coveted local milestone — in just three days in India, Khan bested his own record for the most films to achieve the number. He now has 10 to his name. Sultan has also already become the top Bollywood film of the year in the market, handily passing Airlift which released in January and went on to gross 129 crore. It is expected to enter the Top 10 of all time Hindi films at the Bollywood box office today which would give Khan five total, per Bollywood Hungama.
The Sultan opening on Wednesday was the biggest of the year for Bollywood, the 2nd best of Khan’s career and the 3rd ever for a Hindi film. Over the first four days of a five-day frame, Sultan grossed over 30 crore per day, a first for the market. Sunday was the biggest day for the Ali Abbas Zafar-directed wrestling drama at 38.21 crore.
The only major new film in India was The Secret Life Of Pets which scored $488K to rank as the top international opener. Disney currently holds the record for the biggest Hollywood movie ever there with The Jungle Book at $39M from earlier this year.
Bollywood pundits expect Sultan, which has an essentially unfettered run ahead of it, will cross 200 crore in the next few days. To best Khan’s biggest-ever film, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, it would have to see Salmania continue apace and pass 320.34 crore. The all-time record holder is Aamir Khan’s PK which is just above Bajrangi with 340.8 crore.
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