
Global Star Ram Charan’s Game Changer touted as a pan-Indian project has turned out to be a massive disaster in North America, marking one of the biggest losses for Telugu cinema in the pan-Indian film segment.
Analyzing the reasons, it is evident that Game Changer lacked pre-release buzz and the expectations surrounding its pre-sales were nowhere near films like Pushpa 2, Devara, or other Prabhas’s films that generally boast impressive pre-sale numbers.
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A major issue with Game Changer was the lack of support from Ram Charan’s fanbase. Fans failed to rally behind the film and Ram Charan, with little interest shown for premiere screenings.
In the U.S. market, advance bookings or pre-sales play a critical role in securing early recovery for distributors. However, Game Changer collected only $1.3 million from premieres and Day 1 combined -a shockingly low figure compared to Devara’s $3.7 million and Pushpa 2’s $4.4 million.
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Interestingly, a section of Ram Charan’s fans was more interested on engaging in online fights with other fanbases rather than supporting their own hero’s film. This rivalry, especially post-RRR, has been evident, with factions targeting films like Pushpa 2 and Devara. Despite their efforts to campaign against these films, both emerged massive, with Pushpa 2 collecting $15 million and Devara collected $6 million and a profitable venture for its U.S. distributor.
Prabhas, Allu Arjun, and NTR are projected as bigger stars because their fans rallied behind them and showed their support in massive numbers, which is called stardom in the movie dictionary. Not only that, this will reflect in the business of their next movie in North America.
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In contrast, Game Changer suffered due to a lack of fan support. Instead of purchasing tickets and showing their collective strength for Ram Charan, mega fans directed their frustration toward the U.S. distributor, accusing him of bias and favoring other films like Balakrishna’s Daaku Maharaaj.
If the distributor had opened more shows, what would have been the use if fans are not buying tickets?
Had Ram Charan’s fanbase rallied behind the film and ensured strong premiere collections, Game Changer could have achieved at least $2.5 million from premieres, potentially closing at $4 million overall. With a breakeven point of $4.5 million, this would have mitigated the embarrassment of the film’s losses and saved Charan. Instead, the lack of fan support highlighted Ram Charan’s weak star power in overseas markets.
Strangely, a star like Ram Charan visiting the U.S. directly to promote his movie and attending the pre-release function in Dallas also failed to make any impact. It is tragic that the pre-sales were below $300K, even when Charan was in Dallas. Where were all these fans who ganged up against Allu Arjun and shouted ‘boycott Pushpa 2’ slogans on social media? It is a wonder.
Game Changer will wind up around $2.3 million, a figure far from the $4.5 million breakeven, leaving almost 50% losses for the distributor.
Ultimately, Game Changer’s failure reflects poorly on both the film’s content and the inability of mega fans to back their star when it mattered most.