Box office: SS Rajamouli’s RRR mints $3 million from US premieres

SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus RRR: Roudram Ranam Rudhiram (2022) has set the cash registers ringing just hours after its release.

The film, according to its overseas distributor, has mae $3 million from premiere shows alone in the United States.

RRR is apparently the first Indian film to reach the $3 million mark from premiere shows. The movie has been released overseas by Raftar Creations.

A tweet from Raftar said, “USA premieres Comscore hourly gross $3,000,127 from 981 Locations at 7:45 pm PST. First ever Indian movie to hit the $3 million mark for premieres.” 

The film, which has been made on a budget of more than Rs300 crore and sold for at least Rs520 crore, had a grand release worldwide today with a record number of screens.

RRR is a fictional story set in the pre-Independence era in the 1920s, but it is based on the two real revolutionaries, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem. While Ram Charan plays Sitarama Raju; NT Rama Rao Jr plays Bheem.

RRR is Rajamouli’s first full-length period film. Though his earlier superhit film Magadheera (2009) had a period portion, close to half of the film was set in the modern era.

Like most of Rajamouli's films, RRR, too, is a tale of revenge. In a promotional interview with Kabir Singh (2019) director Sandeep Reddy Vanga, the filmmaker said his films are mostly based on revenge because it is the strongest emotion.

RRR, which has been dubbed and released in Hindi as well, also features Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Samuthirakani and Shriya Saran in important roles.

The film was originally supposed to be released in cinemas on 7 January but had to be postponed owing to the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India.