Boxoffice Review - 2012 Week 24

RANK #1 - SPIRIT

Spirit takes the Kerala boxoffice by storm, securing the best ever opening for a Ranjith directed film. The word of mouth is highly encouraging, and it seems like the movie is set for long run at theatres.
Gross : 3.12 Crores (4 Days)
Verdict : EXCELLENT OPENING

RANK #2 - BACHELOR PARTY

The initial which Bachelor Party has managed, does indeed match with the hype and buzz surrounding the film. Though a poorly executed climax may possibly hamper its collections once the negative public opinion spreads.
Gross : 2.08 Crores (3 Days)
Verdict : VERY GOOD OPENING

RANK #3 - MALLU SINGH

The collections have shown a growth of about 10% from the 6th weekend to the 7th weekend, which has not come as a surprise. Mallu Singh made full use of its last open week, with Hero and Thiruvambadi Thamban failing to impress.
Gross : 8.42 Crores
Verdict : HIT

RANK #4 - DIAMOND NECKLACE

Diamond Necklace is the undoubtedly the film that held up the best in 2012. The movie which released in 24 theaters, in its 7th week runs in 29 theaters. The film has thrived on metro centers, where it has been lapped up with both hands.
Gross : 4.81 Crores
Verdict : HIT

RANK #5 - HERO

Hero just about manages to cling on to the 5th spot in our rankings collecting about 15 lacs in its 3rd week. The film buffs have moved on to Simhasanam which is around the corner
Gross : 1.87 Crores
Verdict : FLOP


RANKINGS BASED ON COLLECTIONS FROM 11 JUNE 2012 - 17 JUNE 2012

Boxoffice Update : BACHELOR PARTY grosses 2.07 Crores in 3 days

TRADE FACTS

Amal Neerad directed BACHELOR PARTY has taken a tremendous opening in Kerala, grossing 76 Lacs on the opening day, and 2.07 Crores in 3 days of theatrical run. While the film is being appreciated for its stylish visuals and slick presentation, it is widely believed that the climax is a big let down. The word of mouth is negative, which caused a slight dip in collections on Sunday. As per the early reports, the film has held up reasonably well on Monday, and looks at an opening week gross in the range of 3.50 - 3.75 Crores.

While Saturday collections showed a drop of about 15% from Friday, Sunday showed minimal growth, which is a concern. It remains to be seen how the collections hold up over the weekdays, which shall give a clear picture of the lifetime gross BACHELOR PARTY may achieve.

BOV BUZZ

Amal Neerad once again proves that he is a Director who commands a big opening. Though a couple of his films have fallen apart after the initial buzz, it can be safely regarded that, with a decent word of mouth, an Amal Neerad flick shall become safe, largely due to its potential to attract a big initial. But the fact that his films fail to generate even a mixed opinion amongst the viewers is a matter of concern.

The film shall prove to be extremely crucial for Asif Ali, whose recent ventures, apart from Ordinary, have gone largely unnoticed. A good performance by BACHELOR PARTY at the boxoffice shall play an important role in bringing his career back on track.

There is no official information available on the cost or the satellite rights for BACHELOR PARTY. It may require a gross in the region of 7 - 8 Crores to render it safe. There is a buzz in the trade that Amal Neerad has made an attempt to alter the climax of the movie, which as of now is not popular with the viewers, however we are yet to hear any official announcement on this.

VERDICT : GOOD OPENING

Boxoffice Collection Update - SPIRIT Takes A Massive 87 Lacs Opening Day Gross

SPIRIT sets the boxoffice on fire with an earth shattering opening of 87 lacs in the opening day. The Mohanlal starrer has collected 3.12 Crores in it's extended opening weekend of 4 days. The film has got excellent word of mouth, and going by the trend, SPIRIT is set to be the 4th best opening film in 2012 behind CASANOVVA, THE KING AND THE COMMISIONER and MAYAMOHINI

It is widely believed that, this is by far the best opening ever secured for a film which does not belong to a mass / festival category. SPIRIT seems to have comfortably withstood the stern challenge posed by BACHELOR PARTY which too has taken a big initial as expected.

The film directed by Renjith, released under the banner of Aashirvad Films in 79 theatres across Kerala. The film is expected to break even, early in its second first week itself, from its theatrical share alone, as the production was completed in just 39 days, in a shoe string budget, widely believed to be less than 3 Crores, excluding printing and publicity costs.

SPIRIT gives a hatrick of hits to Renjith after PRANCHIYETTAN and INDIAN RUPEE. It is also a welcome change as far as the boxoffice is concerned, as quality products with an optimum budget are raking in big money. SPIRIT is expected to rule the roost for the next couple of weeks, and at the moment looks at a lifetime gross of 9.50 - 10 Crores minimum, unless the collections go haywire in the coming weeks.

The movie has earned housefull shows all over Kerala on its first Monday, which leads us to a first week gross in the range of 4.25 - 4.50 Crores.

VERDICT : EXCELLENT OPENING

GRANDMASTER loses steam, but profitable - Grosses 6.98 Crores

GRANDMASTER may have lost the buzz around it during past couple of weeks, but shall prove to be a profitable venture for its distributors, with a bit of help from the whopping satellite rights amount which it managed to fetch. As per reports, it can now be confirmed that Surya TV has bagged the rights for as much as 4 Crores, however, in the initial stages it was widely believed that the price was much lesser.

The 5 week gross figure is about 6.98 Crores from Kerala, with the distributor share crossing 3 Crores comfortably.

GRANDMASTER took an initial which was pretty decent considering the genre to which it belongs to. But it evidently lost the boxoffice battle to MALLU SINGH and to DIAMOND NECKLACE during the later weeks, The unusually huge number of removals, coupled with a flush of new releases severely affected the collections after week 3. The movie continues to run in just 17 screens in Week 6, and is expected to be removed from most of these when SPIRIT releases.

It is definitely a topic deserving an healthy argument whether the rights amount fetched by the movie should be considered while judging their boxoffice status. While taking heed of the same, it needs to be understood that a product in the film industry does have multiple sources of inflow, and the film is being produced keeping an eye on all of these revenue streams.

It is a fact that, GRANDMASTER could have made it much bigger than it actually did. However, there is no denying that fact that it earned more than industry average profits.

VERDICT : HIT

COBRA grosses 6.05 Crores from Kerala - ABOVE AVERAGE - The Final Verdict

Movie	Cobra
Language	Malayalam
Director	Lal
Production	Anto Joseph
Distribution	Play House
Cast	Mammootty, Lal, Padmapriya, Kaniha
Release Date	12 April 2012
Release Centers (A)	73
Theatrical Run	57 Days
No of shows in Kerala	5565
WORLDWIDE GROSS COLLECTION			6.95	Crores
REVENUE
Share from Kerala ( Gross 6.05 Crores )			2.71	Crores
Satellite Rights  (Surya TV)			3.25	Crores
Other States Rights			0.45	Crores
Overseas Rights (Approx.)			0.20	Crores
Audio DVD Rights			0.25	Crores
Remake Rights			-	Crores
Others			-	Crores
TOTAL REVENUE			6.86	Crores
COSTS
Production Costs			4.50	Crores
Printing and Publicity			0.70	Crores
TOTAL COSTS			5.20	Crores
PROFIT			1.66	Crores
Return On Investments			31.83	%
VERDICT			HIT
Cobra marked the return of Mega Star Mammootty to the genre which had produced most of
his recent hits - Comedy. Mammootty was in desperate need of  a genuine hit at the boxoffice
after suffering successive failures on a trot for 18 about 15 months. Though it cannot be claimed
that Cobra was an outright winner, it needs to be acknolwedged that the film managed to pull
a brilliant initial, which made it possible for the film, which had a mixed opinion to gross about
6 crores from Kerala alone. The distribtors suffered marginal losses at the overseas market.
The satellite rights fetched a good amount, and made Cobra profitable for Anto. It is now
becoming increasingly alarming that the superstar movies largely depend on the initial and the
rights to become profitable.

Boxoffice Review - 2012 Week 23

RANK #1 - Vaadhyar

Jayasurya's comic effort opens at Rank 01 despite securing a below average opening. The film does not seem to have a bright future ahead as Spirit and Bachelor Party are ready for release.
Gross : 0.55 Crores
Verdict : Below Average Opening

RANK #2 - Diamond Necklace

Diamond Necklace still manages to find excellent support at metro centers during weekends, with more than a couple of shows reporting housefull with returns. The necklace does shine well..!
Gross : 4.58 Crores
Verdict : Hit

RANK #3 - Hero

Despite managing to hold up reasonably well during the weekend, Hero may prove to be a loss making venture for its makers. The film suffered 31 removals in Week 03.
Gross : 1.73 Crores
Verdict : Flop

RANK #4 - Thiruvambadi Thamban

Thiruvambadi Thamban continues the string of bad times at the boxoffice for Jayaram. Yet another film bombing at the boxoffice, and shall make way for new releases this week
Gross ; 1.04 Crores
Verdict : Flop

RANK #5

Mallu Singh made good use of its final open week at the boxoffice. Not much significant additions can be expected from here on for the movie. The film will make its presence felt at the year end analysis
Gross : 8.21 Crores
Verdict : Hit


*COLLECTIONS UPTO 10 JUNE 2012 CONSIDERED FOR RANKINGS.

OKOK is the most successful Tamil Movie of 2012

It has been a while since the trend of "Small making it Big" in Kollywood has begun. But it needs to be admitted that Oru Kal Oru Kannadi directed by Rajesh starring Udayanidhi Stalin, Hansika Motwani and Santhanam has hit the pinnacle of this theory. OKOK released to unanimous positive opinion and went on to take an opening of sorts which can be easily compared to that of an established hero in Tamil.

Rajesh has proved his mettle with his previous films too. But this huge victory should taste even more sweeter as, he has managed to pull it off this time without a star in his film. OKOK, which was completed at a budget of less than 20 crores including print and publicity costs has gone on to sweep in a whopping worldwide gross of 85 crores.!! It needs to be remembered that the gross collection of a film like Velayudham, which was a tremendous success last year was close to 88 crores worldwide.

The foot tapping music and colorful visuals have added to the aura, but it is the good old Humour, that takes OKOK over the finishing line here. The movie has done tremendous business at multiplex centers. The gross collection from Chennai alone is about 16 crores.!! 

Boxoffice Review - 2012 Week 22

RANK # 1 - HERO

Despite getting a below par opening and negative word of mouth, Prithviraj's mass action entertainer finds its place at the top of our rankings. Removals are around the corner.
Gross : 1.45 Crores
Verdict : FLOP

RANK # 2 - THIRUVAMBADI THAMBAN

Jayaram's Thiruvambadi Thamban has failed to create an impression at the boxoffice. It opened average and the second week was not anything better.
Gross : 0.85 Crores
Verdict : BELOW AVERAGE

RANK # 3 - DIAMOND NECKLACE

Lal Jose directed feel-good movie Diamond Necklace still gets a decent audience during weekends and hence retains the 3rd spot. Families still feel comfortable choosing this film over the others.
Gross : 4.15 Crores
Verdict : HIT

RANK # 4 - MALLU SINGH

Mallu Singh becomes the third highest grossing Malayalam film of the year. Though the buzz around the movie is no more there, it should be declared a clear winner.
Gross : 7.90 Crores
Verdict : HIT

RANK # 5 - GRANDMASTER

As an investigative thriller, Grandmaster has managed to do well at the boxoffice. But the collections have dropped after 2nd week. Not much is expected to happen before the next move.
Gross : 6.95 Crores
Verdict : HIT


BASED ON COLLECTION REPORTS UPTO 4 JUNE 2012

Boxoffice Verdicts Theatre Count Analysis 2012

Boxoffice Verdicts presents a Value Added Analysis on the percentage drop in theaters suffered by some fo the recently successful films in Mollywood, in its first 5 weeks of theatrical run.

The film which has sustained the most is Lal Jose directed Diamond Necklace, which released in very small number of screens and went on to become a huge success with additional theaters being added, and the film getting promotions in majority of its release centers. The film which released in just 24 screens, ran successfully in as many as 41 centers in its 5th week .Mayamohini is in the second place, as it continued to run in 67 screens after 28 days, after getting released in 72 screens.

Mallu Singh has also done well with an average drop of about 2% per week in theater counts, which is excellent considering that it released in 64 screens. Ordinary, the most talked about movie of the year made a tremendous run at the boxoffice suffering an average drop of less than 10% even amidst bottleneck competition with new releases. 

It is an interesting trend to observe that movies starring Mammootty and Mohanlal have dropped more than the other successful movies. This also underlines the fact that the success of such big film depends hugely on the opening which they often manage. Though Grandmaster and Cobra have suffered heavy drops after Week 03, they are still profitable due to the opening which they have garnered. The fact the distributor share in the initial weeks is higher than the later weeks, also do play a part in the success of such movies.

The following points also need to be considered while making judgements from the below table. Wide / Bigger releases do suffer a bigger drop in theaters. The number of films running at the time of a new releases, and also the number of movies which release in the succeeding weeks do play a part in determining the % drop in theaters.

The Factors Which Influence The % Drop In Number Of Theaters :-

1. Word of mouth

2. Number of opening release centers

3. Competition

NUMBER OF THEATRES AT THE END OF EACH WEEK AND PERCENTAGE DROPS
FILM		WEEK 01	WEEK 02	WEEK 03	WEEK 04	WEEK 05	% DROP	AVG DROP %
DIAMOND NECKLACE		24	34	49	42	41	-70.83	-17.28
MAYAMOHINI		72	72	74	73	67	6.94	1.69
MALLU SINGH		64	69	72	62	58	9.38	2.05
FEMALE 22 KOTTAYAM		33	32	43	27	21	36.36	7.02
ORDINARY		71	69	69	63	46	35.21	9.62
GRANDMASTER		62	67	53	21	18	70.97	21.87
COBRA		73	72	41	7	4	94.52	42.56

Boxoffice Verdicts

MALLU SINGH is strong in Week 05 - 7.80 Crores Gross

Vyshakh continues his success riot at the Malayalam Boxoffice, as his third film MALLU SINGH is on its way to a stupendous success. The film has managed to do well all across the state, despite severely falling short of Vyshakh's previous ventures in terms of entertainment value. The movie has collected 7.80 Crores Gross from the theaters, and is still strong in its 5th week running in 58 screens in Kerala.

Mallu Singh can comfortably be classified a HIT, and the business which it can garner over the next couple of weeks shall determine the Final Verdict. Mallu Singh is the third best sustaining film of 2012 after Diamond Necklace and Mayamohini. Mallu Singh is currently the third highest grossing film of 2012 behind MAYAMOHINI and ORDINARY. The movie shall finish at a range of 8.3-8.5 Crores of lifetime gross from Kerala.

Mallu Singh has earned a distributor share of 3.10 Crores till date. The satellite rights of the film have been sold to Mazhavil Manorama for an undisclosed amount. It will be bizarre if it does not earn them more than 3 - 3.25 Crores.!

VERDICT : HIT

HERO takes a Below Average Opening - 1.10 Crores in Opening Week

Prithviraj's latest action venture HERO, directed by Diphan has taken a below average opening at the boxoffice of 1.10 Crores in the first week of its release. It is a bit bewildering that a mass attempt by Prithviraj has taken a much smaller opening than his much more classy and higher-end oriented investigative thriller MASTERS, which released a couple of months ago. HERO carries average - negative reports from the public.

It needs to be acknowledged that Prithviraj does command a decent opening at the boxoffice, but what may have backfired in the case of HERO, may be the sheer lack of quality in the product, which tests the patience of the viewers. The collections of the movie fell like a pack of cards during the weekdays, which saw a per-day drop of more than 15%. 

HERO may recover its cost depending on the rights amount which it can fetch from satellite, other states and DVD rights. The satellite rights are rumoured to be sold to Asianet for an approximate amount of 3 Crores, though BOV are not aware of any official figures yet.

HERO's future looks dull, as Amal Neerad's much anticipated off-the-road film BACHELOR PARTY release is on the way.!!

VERDICT : BELOW AVERAGE OPENING