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| Never challenge Shah Rukh in the US! |
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In the final reckoning, it seems Khan versus Khan was just media tattle. For over the weekend audiences on both sides of the Atlantic resoundingly welcomed the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Don, pushing Jaan-E-Mann, with Salman Khan, Preity Zinta and Akshay Kumar, way below the box-office charts. At any other time, Jaan-E-Mann would have done decent business with its emotional story and haunting music, said a New York exhibitor who did not want to be named for this report. But it was either sheer foolishness or arrogance to release it the same week Don opened. Never challenge Shah Rukh at the box-office! Shah Rukh, who seldom fails to ignite the box-office abroad, once again muscled through the box-office in North America, with Don scoring an impressive $800,000, at No 17 on the weekend box-office charts. It drew a decent $500,000 in the United Kingdom. The film enjoyed the third highest weekend opening ever for a Hindi movie in North America, following Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, each of which grossed slightly over $1 million in North America. All three films had Shah Rukh in the lead. The success of Don, the third film directed by Farhan Akhtar, not only consolidates Shah Rukh's box-office clout but also gives its lady star Priyanka Chopra her second big hit abroad following Krrish. There was not even a consolation prize for Jaan-E-Mann, which grossed a mere $210,000 in North America on 66 screens and featured at No 29 on the boxoffice charts. In the United Kingdom it may have done a little better, industry sources said. There is a simple lesson here. The desi market is not like mainstream Hollywood which can absorb two big films the same week. Desis have to think hard, very hard, about seeing two Hindi films the same week. The disappointing opening for Jaan-E-Mann should worry Akshay Kumar who has had a string of hits abroad, with even his also-ran films in India doing decent business here. Some exhibitors expected a bigger turnover for Don, considering that it was screened in America and Canada on a record 113 screens, some 30 screens more than KANK. Distributor UTV seems to think the film will have long legs and could reach $2 million in North America alone. Many movie fans stayed home on Saturday to mark Diwali, exhibitors said, and as a result the Saturday collections for the film were weak. |
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