Ram Gopal Varma aka RGV's Lakshmi's NTR started on a good note and made a decent collection at the box office in the premiere shows. It has beaten Suryakantam, Lucifer and Super Deluxe.
Ram Gopal Varma's track records show that he has a very little fan base in the US, but the controversial subject of late legendary actor NT Rama Rao, who had good followership there, had created a lot of hype and curiosity about Lakshmi's NTR. But the trade pundits were a bit sceptic about its prospects at the box office, as it clashed with new Indian releases Super Deluxe, Suryakantam, Lucifer and Airaa.
Weekend Cinema US, which bagged its overseas theatrical rights, announced to premiere the uncensored version of Lakshmi's NTR in 125 screens in the US on March 28. It tweeted, "#LakshmIsNTR is going to be our biggest release in USA . Theatre list will be out very soon. Grand Usa premieres on 28th March. Uncut & uncensored Version for USA & Canada . No Beeps, No cuts only Action."
This announcement coupled with the hype boosted its advance booking. But then came in a piece of shocking news that High court has stalled its release. However, Weekend Cinema US tweeted, "#LakshmisNTR will be released exactly as per schedule in USA . & all the other countries. Content is already delivered to all the locations! Also enabled in Moviepass in many locations!! Book your tickets now."
Lakshmi's NTR has received a brilliant opening and collected $84,578 at the US box office in the premiere shows. This number is likely to cross $100,000 when the final figures are revealed. The controversial biopic of NT Rama Rao has become the biggest opener for Ram Gopal Varma in the country.
Lakshmi's NTR also leads the race in the US business chart for south Indian movies. Mohanlal's Lucifer (Malayalam) and Vijay Sethupathi's Super Deluxe (Tamil) have landed in the second and third place, with their collection of $48,731 and $30,437, respectively, at the US box office on Thursday.
OverSeasRights, which provides trusted information about US box office collection, tweeted, "#USA BO at 1:15AM EST #LakshmisNTR - $84,578 from 101 Locs #Suryakantam - $5,914 from 49Locs #Lucifer - $48,731 from 28 Locs #Airaa -$868 #SuperDeluxe - $30,437 #HotelMumbai - $146,094."
