US Box Office: HanuMan overtakes Guntur Kaaram

Superhero film HanuMan, which is made on a moderate budget, is thrashing big-budget entertainer Guntur Kaaram at the US box office. This is quite shocking to trade circles because Mahesh Babu and Trivikram Srinivas command a strong market there and Guntur Kaaram was supposed to dominate the first weekend because of the solid hype.

The positive word of mouth is doing wonders for HanuMan despite getting a limited release there. The sensational numbers on Friday stand testimony to this fact. The Prashanth Varma directional amassed an impressive $ 500K gross on Friday while Guntur Kaaram is struggling with a $ 350K gross as of this writing.

HanuMan is now the only Telugu film after RRR and Salaar to hit the half-a-million mark in North America on the first Friday after covid pandemic. Also, it is the biggest first Friday earner of all time in Tollywood for medium-budget films.

No doubt Guntur Kaaram took a terrific start with close to $ 1.5 Million( unofficial ) from its Thursday premieres because of the combo hype and the buzz created by the teasers and trailers. But, the below-par reviews and the disappointing word of mouth seem to be playing a significant impact on the collections from the first day.

Going by the current trend, HanuMan is likely to emerge as an outright blockbuster and claim the ‘Sankranti Winner’ tag with a sensational run in the first weekend. The film will surpass the break-even mark in a few more hours and aim to breach into the $ 2.5M club in the long run.

The devotional touch with arresting screenplay and stunning visuals in HanuMan proved to be the selling point for the film. Trivikram’s lackluster script and monotonous narration are the liabilities for Guntur Kaaram.