Anushka Shetty's "Rudhramadevi" (Rudramadevi) has done superb collection at the worldwide box office in the first week, but it will face a big threat from "Bruce Lee: The Fighter" in its second week.
"Rudhramadevi", which was released in about 2,000 cinema halls worldwide on 9 October, got a superb opening. The movie beat the first weekend records of "Temper" and "Gopala Gopala" and has become the fourth highest Telugu grosser in the opening weekend in 2015 after "Baahuabali", "Srimanthudu" and "S/o Satyamurthy".
As per early estimates, "Rudhramadevi" has grossed approximately Rs 55 crore at the worldwide box office in six days. The Gunasekhar-directed historical movie is likely to rake in another Rs 5 crore on its seventh day. The film is expected to surpass the Rs 60-crore mark (gross) in the global market.
Made on a budget of Rs 80 crore, "Rudhramadevi" has fetched Rs 57 crore from the sale of its distribution rights. The movie has reportedly returned around Rs 32 crore to its distributors, who are hoping to get another Rs 3 crore from its run on seventh day. The distributors will recover around Rs 70% of their investment in the first week.
But in its second week, "Rudhramadevi" will have a herculean task in recovering another 30% of the investment and earning profit for its distributors.
There are several factors for the film's success, one of them being Allu Arjun and Chiranjeevi's association with the film. It has been successful in driving huge amount of crazy Mega fans to theatres.
However, "Rudhramadevi" will miss Mega fans in the second week. Ram Charan's "Bruce Lee: The Fighter", which is set to hit screens on 16 October, will drive away this crowd. Trade experts predict that the Srinu Vaitla-directed movie is likely to take a toll on the business of "Rudhramadevi".
"Bruce Lee: The Fighter" is one of the big-ticket Telugu movies of 2015. The film has created headlines several times for good reasons. Its promos have created lot of curiosity among film goers. Moreover, the film marks the comeback of Megastar Chiranjeevi, who will be seen once again in a cameo role seven years after "Magadheera". It looks bigger than in "Rudhramadevi" in hype, promotion and star power.
"Bruce Lee: The Fighter" is slated to release in over 2500 cinema hall across the globe and it will definitely force "Rudhramadevi" to vacate a large number of cinema halls in the latter's second week. As per reports, the Anushka Shetty starrer is likely to be withdrawn from around 50% of cinema halls that it was holding in its opening week.
Many in T-Town are wondering over how distributor Dil Raju, who has acquired the theatrical rights of both the films, will manage cinema halls in Nizam, which is one of the most important market. Dil Raju has reportedly shelled out Rs 13 crore for the rights of "Rudhramadevi", which has returned him over Rs 10 crore in six days. He has spent another Rs 12.50 crore on the rights of "Bruce Lee: The Fighter".
