NTR’s Devara is stunning U.S. distribution circles by registering over $2.5 million in pre-sales for its first weekend, days ahead of its premiere this week.
For comparison, let’s look at the recent big hit Salaar, starring Prabhas, since both are action dramas.
Salaar had pre-sales of $1.2 million (in the U.S. only) three days before its premiere, with 45,000 tickets sold.
In contrast, Devara’s pre-sales three days before its premiere are at $1.8 million, with over 60,000 tickets sold.
Currently, Devara is quite ahead of Salaar, but it may not be easy to beat Salaar in the full run. Salaar pulled in $1.8 million from its Hindi version, which is significant, while the Telugu version alone grossed $7 million, and Tamil version made $110K.
Salaar closed its run with super impressive final figures of $8,984,724.
Several factors contributed to Salaar’s success—not just Prabhas, but also the combination of Prabhas and director Prashanth Neel, which played a major role in generating $1.8 million from Hindi version in North America.
In contrast, Devara is missing that strong directorial element compared to Salaar. A star hero paired with an informed pan-India director always makes a huge difference.
But, no film can be overhyped or underestimated until the public verdict is out. For now, “Devara” is doing excellent with its star power and as an event film.
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