COOLIE FIRST LOSS - KERALA / ANOTHER BEAST FOR SUN PICTURES

 Coolie’s first loss report comes from Kerala and WAR 2 that banked on NTR Jr to bring in moolah from Telugu States is too heading for a major loss. For Sun Pictures, Kollywood the home turf and overseas pull of Rajinikanth- Lokesh has made it a profitable venture. Like Beast which Produced by Sun Pictures received flak for shoddy content but gave profits, Coolie will be a similar story.

 Kerala advance booking witnessed a frenzy that no non-Malayalam film witnessed. The film’s theatrical rights for Kerala were bought for 14 Cr MG, with expenses. For full recovery, the film needs to collect close to 40 Cr gross. The film opens well with 9.75 Cr, and on day 2 holds well with 5.75 Cr gross. However, on day 3 the film sees a heavy drop in numbers with 3 Cr gross, taking total gross to 18.5 Cr. Today advance bookings are poor, suggesting the number will be lower than day 3. At this trend the film cannot post any decent numbers from tomorrow, and it is likely to close under 25 Cr gross. Which means Rajinikanth’s Coolie will end up with a heavy loss in Kerala. More than 30% loss is expected for buyers, and this is the first time that a Lokesh Kanagaraj film is facing a loss venture in Kerala. Even Leo, with mixed WOM, succeeds in achieving breakeven and profits in Kerala.

The Telugu States theatrical rights of the War sequel were bought by Naga Vamsi for 82 Cr excluding GST; with GST, the film needs to collect a 95 Cr share for break-even. The film sees a below-par opening and holds average on day 2. For three days, the Telugu states’ share is around 5 Cr, including GST, and the Hindi version’s recovery is just at 35%. Today advance bookings are also poor for the film, and even crossing 50 Cr share itself looks not possible. 

Vijay’s Leo, Rajini’s Jailer, and 2 Point O joined the 300 Cr club in 4 days. But Rajinikanth-Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Coolie gathers a huge amount, 300 Cr gross at the box office in just 3 days, which is the first time ever in Kollywood history. The film needs to maintain a good hold on weekdays to achieve break-even and emerge as a success.