Salman Khan's Sultan has had a free run at the box office for two weeks. On 22 July, it will face the first big challenge. Rajinikanth's Kabali is set to open across 1000 screens in North India. The buzz for the film is quite high, seeing that Rajinikanth has a cult following across the country. The film has already seen tickets sold out in the Southern region, with Tamil Nadu and Bangalore, Karnataka, accounting for the highest collections.
Incidentally, the advance bookings for Kabali were opened on 15 July. Reports indicate that the film has already exceeded Sultan's initial record with tickets being sold out within the first three days. Directed by Pa.Ranjith, the film is set to open across 12,000 screens in India. This count is double the number of Sultan. The film will simultaneously release in Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam. In addition, the film is also set to release in 400 theatres in the US. The key target of Rajini's films remain the southern markets, but there is an increasing interest in his film across the north too.
The film stars Rajinikanth in the leading role, with Radhika Apte, Winston Chao, and Attakathi Dinesh in supporting roles. Pa.Ranjith is better known for his first films, Attakathi and Madras, which proved to be quite popular among the masses.
The budget of the film is speculated to be around Rs100 crore, and is expected to earn Rs200 crore in the first three days itself. The trailer has already crossed 25 million views on YouTube. Other than the US, the film will also release on screens across France, China, Japan, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Sultan has continued its relentless march to the number of Rs260 crore in 12 days. With the only paltry competition arriving from Indra Kumar's Great Grand Masti, the film has had a fairly easy run at the box office so far.
The arrival of Rajinikanth might just change that.