Ra One breaks single day box office record

MUMBAI: After failing to break the opening day box office record, Shahrukh Khan’s ‘Ra One’ has managed to make history by breaking the record for highest ticket sales in one day.

In India alone the movie took in Rs23 million on the second day of its release. ‘Ra One’ which had the largest release of any movie to date can be seen in 5,000 theatres across the world and is the most expensive India movie in history.

The movie fell short of breaking Salman Khan’s ‘Bodyguard’ opening day record.

Paranormal Activity 3 rules US box office

NEW YORK: "Paranormal Activity 3" vanquished the box-office ghosts this weekend, taking in a whopping $54 million upon its premiere in the US, according to studio estimates.

The other two new films in wide release this weekend, however, flopped. An expensive 3-D version of "The Three Musketeers" grossed a disappointing $8.8 million. And "Johnny English Reborn," a comedy starring British comedian Rowan Atkinson, did not resonate with American audiences. While the film is a hit overseas, it collected a weak $3.8 million in the US this weekend.

Still, the results for Paramount Pictures' third "Paranormal" made for the first truly stellar box-office weekend of the fall, which has been characterized by middling performances from high-profile releases. Even past weekend winners such as "Contagion," "Real Steel" and "The Lion King 3-D" had failed to open much beyond $30 million.

"Paranormal's" opening, on the other hand, was the highest-ever October debut, and helped power the top 12 movies to their highest total, $110.3 million, since the middle of August. Analysts had anticipated $40 million to $45 million for the third instalment in the supernatural franchise.

The numbers for the Paramount release represented a significant increase over other horror films, which have struggled of late, and demolished the opening of "Paranormal Activity 2," which drew $40.7 million in its premiere on the same weekend last year.

"Horror fans came out in very large numbers this weekend, and that's a testament to the filmmakers and the enduring power of this franchise," said Rob Moore, Paramount Pictures vice chairman, alluding to the movie directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman.

While Moore declined to elaborate on future plans for the franchise, the numbers all but assured there will be a fourth "Paranormal" film, and solidified "Paranormal's" status as the Halloween heir to the "Saw" series, which reliably yielded a hit every October for the past seven years.

In keeping with the general pattern for horror pictures, "Paranormal" drew a higher proportion of women, who came out to see "Paranormal Activity 3" at a ratio of 54% to 46% compared with men. About 53% of the total audience was under age 25.

The movie grossed an additional $26 million upon its debut in international territories, which included France, Australia and Russia, Paramount said.

Still, it remains to be seen how the movie will perform in the coming weeks. While filmgoers came out in sizable numbers to see the horror prequel, they didn't necessarily like what they saw: The film notched an average grade of C+, according to market research firm CinemaScore. The first "Paranormal Activity" took in $107 million in the U.S., while the second film garnered about $85 million. (Reuters)

Real Steel' dukes its way to top of box office

LOS ANGELES: Disney's boxing robots of "Real Steel" duked their way to the top of the North American box office in their debut weekend, industry data showed Monday.

The Disney kids' flick, starring Hugh Jackman, took in a $27.3 million haul from Friday to Sunday, industry monitor Exhibitor Relations said.

Also in its premiere weekend "The Ides of March" scored a healthy open, surging to the number two spot with $10.5 million total.

"Dolphin Tale," a feel-good family film about a boy who helps a dolphin get a prosthetic tail, dropped out of the top spot to third with $9.1 million, and $49 million to date.

"Moneyball," a sports drama starring Brad Pitt as a baseball coach, was in the number four spot, taking in $7.5 million.

In fifth place was "50/50", a comedy about a 27-year-old man's battle against cancer, which earned $5.6 million.

"Courageous," a police drama, brought in $4.9 million in sixth place for the weekend.

"Lion King - 3D" still raked in $4.6 million in the seventh spot. It has earned $86 million so far in re-release.

"Dream House," a thriller starring real-life couple Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz, was in the eighth spot with $4.5 million.

"What's Your Number?," the Anna Faris comedy about her search among her exes for the love of her life, was in ninth place with $3.1 million.

Thriller "Contagion," about a lethal virus that goes global, was in the 10th spot with $2.9 million in earnings. (AFP)

Apes rule the American box office

LOS ANGELES: New Hollywood film ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ is at the top of the American box office earning over $ 104.9 million. Even though new films arrived in theaters over the weekend, audiences still flocked to ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes,’ which continued its dominance over the competition.

In weekend sales the movie took in $ 27.5 million.

None of the new films which debuted over the weekend saw such results, but ‘The Help’ which is an adaptation of a civil rights novel was the exception. It had ticket sales of $ 25.5 million.

Box office records broken: Bollywood’s July of joy

Four hit films in July create Bollywood box office history... Which one was your favourite? Delhi Belly, Murder 2, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, or Singham?

History is in the making at box office this month. With four blockbusters running successfully at theatres, this July has turned out to be the best ever in the history of Hindi cinema.

Going by the trade figures, the month saw a net collection of around Rs 210 crore at box office, which is a whopping figure. To give you a sense of proportion, it is roughly 26 percent of the total collection of the first half of this year which included the hits like Ready and Double Dhamaal.

In fact, these two films set the momentum in June, carried forward at the start of July with Delhi Belly, which turned out to be a runaway hit despite its A certificate and expletive-strewn dialogues. Bbuddah - Hoga Terra Baap, released on the same day, did not really create a ruck at ticket windows but did decent enough business.

Then came Murder 2, with its macabre tale of a psychotic killer, and minted money at box office despite being panned by the critics.

Box office hat-trick was consummated with Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, a life-affirming tale of three friends on a trip through Spain. The film managed to attract footfalls despite releasing just two days after the 13/7 Mumbai terror attacks. In fact, it surpassed the first weekend collection of Murder 2.

The fourth Friday of July brought more cheer with the release of Singham. The movie, starring Ajay Devgan, became the second best opener of the year after Salman Khan’s Ready. The film witnessed an exceptional weekend at box office and is still running strong, racing on its way to be a hit.

Compared to the July of 2010, this July has seen an 80 percent increase in box office business, making it the best ever July in Bollywood history.

The good news is that the coming months would see the release of some most eagerly awaited films of the year, like Bodyguard, Ra.One and Don 2. All of them are expected to be money minters.