'Karate Kid' grosses Rs.45 mn in opening weekend in India

New Delhi, June 14 (IANS) Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan starrer 'The Karate Kid' has earned Rs.4.5 crore (Rs.45 million) in its initial weekend in India.

Gaining the top spot at the US box office this weekend with $56 million, the Sony Pictures' movie released here in three languages - English, Hindi and Tamil. The dubbed Telugu version will release July 2.

'The film has universal appeal and has been greatly appreciated by action fans and family audiences. We continue to expect strong numbers in the coming week, thanks to the extremely positive word of mouth and the fact that many shows were housefull during the weekend,' Kercy Daruwala, Sony Pictures' managing director, said in a press statement.

Talking about the film's promotion here, Sony's director-marketing Bhavesh Thakkar said: 'Due to ongoing summer vacation and the central character being a kid we targetted them aggressively... We also targeted Tamil Nadu very strongly since it has a huge and loyal Jackie Chan fan base,' he added.

'The Karate Kid' also opened at the top position in several Asian markets including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines and is still to release in territories like Europe and China.

Directed by Harald Zwart and produced by Jaden's superstar father Will Smith, it is a remake of the 1984 film of the same name.

The plot revolves around a Detroit-based 12-year-old boy Dre Parker who moves to China with his mother. When he joins school, he is bullied by his classmates. He makes an unlikely ally in the form of his ageing maintenance man Mr. Han, a Kung Fu master who teaches him the secrets of self-defence.