Box Office: Panga, Created Equal
The January 24-26 weekend saw the release of Indian film, Panga. It released in 102 theaters in the U.S. which is an average number for most small-budget Indian films. High-budget Indian films, such as War and Street Dancer, release in 200-300 theaters in the U.S. The budget of the film is estimated to be around 45 crore, which amounts to around $6,000,000, when converted to USD. For an Indian film, this is an average budget. Majority of films are made on a similar budget. The film is a fictional story positioned like most sports biopics in India. It tells the story of a female Kabbadi player who left her profession due to unforeseen circumstances, and was urged by her son to make a comeback. Even though it had a weak opening, only earning $285,689, the film showed steady growth over a period of two weeks. In 10 days, it has earned $501,081 in the United States. Its total overseas collection is around $800,000, so the U.S. comprises a large part of its non-Indian collections.
The next weekend (Jan 31 – Feb 2) did not have any big releases made by or starring people of color, but there was a limited release of documentary film about an African American man. Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words is a documentary that chronicles the life of a controversial justice as he recounts his journey in his own words. The film released in a select 23 theaters domestically for the weekend, and earned a total gross of $74,577. For such a small-budget film, released to a limited audience this is a large sum. The per-theatre average was $3,242, which is probably what led to the film having a huge success.
Box Office Round Up: Bad Boys for Life, now in its third week, is still steadily progressing. Despite the great drop in collections, now at only $307 per theaters, it is still doing well. It has reached a total gross of $148,059,490 domestically and $290,759,490 globally. Its worldwide gross is already three times its budget, which is $90,000,000. Already a moderate success, if it continues earning at this rate for the next few weeks, it will probably cross $360,000,000, four times its budget, and can then be declared a huge box office success.
Japanese film, Weathering with You, is also in its third week now. It is still raking in decent numbers but the growth has been slow. In its first week, it earned $5,705,814. But two weeks later, it has only earned 2 million more, with a total gross of $7,238,160. This drop in growth is typical of foreign films. The first week is normally great due to the interest of Japanese-Americans in this film. However, as the weeks go by, lesser people begin to watch the film, since few non-Japanese people would be interested in such a film. It’s the same case with Indian films, which do extremely well in the first week due to the abundance of Indian-Americans but rarely grab the eyes of non-Indians, hence are taken out of theaters within a week or two.
Now in its 8th week, Jumanji: The Next Level, starring Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, has reached $291,585,825. The growth has dropped considerably considering that the film is nearing the end of its theatrical run. Yet, the film has managed to rake in quite a large total, which will probably cross $300,000,000 making the film a box office success. It’s not surprising that a franchise film like this is doing well, and the star power of the cast is also contributing to its success.