Karthi's Cheliya (Cheliyaa) is gearing up for a massive release in the US on April 7 and as per our box office predictions, the movie will beat the records of Mani Ratnam's last venture OK Bangaram.
Check: Cheliya Ratings
Cheliya, which also releases in Tamil as Kaatru Veliyidai, has been creating ripples in the media, ever since it was announced. Actor Karthi and director Mani Ratnam have got a huge fan following in Telugu speaking regions and their previous releases have become hits in these areas. Their success had created a huge demand for the theatrical rights of their last movie.
Jollyhits, which has earlier distributed Ram Charan's Dhruva, has acquired the overseas theatrical rights of Cheliya for a whopping price. The distribution house booked 110 screens for the movie and it is the highest screen count for the Telugu versions of Karthi and Mani Ratnam's films. The distributor has also planned to hold the premiere shows for it in a large number of screens across the country.
Check: Cheliya theatre list, show schedules and advance ticket booking details
Meanwhile, ATMUS Entertainment has bagged the overseas theatrical rights of Kaatru Veliyidai, the Tamil version of Cheliya. The distribution house has already booked 108 screens for the Tamil film across North America, but it is yet to release the theatre list. A post on its official Twitter handle reads: "Our 2017 starts with the Maniratnam Magnum Opus 'Kaatru Veliyidai'! Romance is in the air! 108 theaters confirmed so far for Tamil. List shortly."
Karthi's last outing Kaashmora collected $278,394 (Rs 1.86 crore) from both Tamil and Telugu versions together in 70 screens at the US box office in its opening weekend. On the other hand, Mani Ratnam's OK Bangaram minted $230,185 (Rs 1.45 crore) from 39 screens at the USA box office in the first weekend, while its Tamil version - Ok Kanmani raked in $615,968 from 175 screens.
Cheliya is a romantic thriller drama, the promos of which have garnered a lot of attention. The Telugu and Tamil versions are releasing in over 220 screens together in the country. Considering the hype and screen count, both the versions are expected to collect over $1 million at the US box office in the first weekend and shatter the records of Ok Bangaram and Kaashmora.
