Well, this wasn’t a great weekend!  Terrible in the US, okay in some other places thanks to random spikes.  Arjun Reddy is still doing good, but it looks like it is doing better than it really is just in contrast to all the others.

So here’s the big news, Arjun Reddy is at the top of the list for Indian films in the US.  A Telugu film in week 2 a the top is a big deal by itself, a Telugu film like this (with the drinking and the sex and the casual attitude about everything) is a really really big deal.  But let’s dig a little deeper and notice that it is only on the top of the list because everything else is doing even worse.

Arjun Reddy is making $2,476.97 per screen in the US.  That is a solid box office for a second week, it is proof that an off-beat film like this can run and make a profit in the US.  That is NOT record breaking or the most profitable possible box office.  That’s just sort of “oh, yeah, that’s normal” for second week of a popular film.

(Don’t celebrate so fast Arjun Reddy)

What is the story here is that this off beat odd film is doing better business than every mainstream option from every other industry.  It’s not necessarily that people are in love with Arjun Reddy, but they are definitely out of love with the other options.  At least in the US.  And that’s audience and theaters, Arjun Reddy is picking up screens in it’s second week, while the more mainstream films are coming out on many fewer than they would normally (Baadshaho on only 100 screens).

So, let’s see how the pitiful mainstream ones are doing.  Baadshaho is the worst, $1,825 per screen on only a 100 screens in the US.  But, interestingly, it did pretty well in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, around $4,000 per screen in each place.  And then terrible again in the UK.  This kind of maps, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand tend to be the action type places, and the strong Hindi belt places.  But that big of a gap is a little unusual.  I have no explanation.

Shubh Mangal Saavdhan is doing considerably better, while still not great.  $2,727 per screen.  But I think it is probably over screened, it’s on 95 screens which is kind of overkill for a small specifically northern film.  I would have said keep it closer to 50.  More than the pitiful 35 for Bareilly Ki Barfi, but not trying to make it into a full-fledged major release.  However, the total box office, from 95 screens, is still considerably more than Baadshaho on 100 screens.

But that’s the best news for Shubh Mangal Saavdhan.  Everywhere else, baaaaad.  No good in the UK, no good in Australia, no good in New Zealand, no good in Malaysia (well, nothing is ever good in Malaysia unless it is Tamil).  So, I guess what this is saying is that Hindi people have terrible taste?  In the US, where there is a strong southern audience, the vote was for Arjun Reddy over anything else.  In the Hindi regions, where Arjun Reddy wasn’t even playing, everyone picked Baadshaho over Shubh Mangal Saavdhan.

So, generally speaking, Arjun Reddy is doing very well in the US but is only looking that impressive in comparison to the other options that are doing a lot worse.  Baadshaho is doing okay in the traditional Hindi/Action markets.  Shubh Mangal Saavdhan is doing marginally okay in the US but not so good anywhere else.  And everything else, the new Punjabi film, the new Tamil film, the new Telugu film, is just doing not so great.  It’s a bad weekend, is what I am saying.  Arjun Reddy is the only one making any money at all, which is why it is looking so good right now.