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Pathaan Overseas Box Office: Shah Rukh Khan creates an opening day record with $4.75 million
With $4 million plus already in the bank for Pathaan on Wednesday, the 5-day weekend can go as high as $18-19 million. Detailed Box Office Report
THU Evening Update: The actuals in Gulf have come higher than expected at $1.60 million, accordingly the first day collections overseas are $4.75 million approx. That also puts the worldwide first day well over Rs. 100 crores, with Rs. 108 crores first day globally.
Original article: As reported yesterday, Shah Rukh Khan's Pathaan has taken the overseas box office by storm and the early numbers that are pouring in are suggesting the first-day collections will be in the north of $4.25 million. The article will be updated with the actuals in the evening. A few Bollywood films have crossed $3 million on the first day but all of them were Friday or holiday releases.
Pathaan emerges #1 opener of Bollywood
Depending on where the actuals land, the film is on its course to cross Rs. 100 crores worldwide on the first day itself. As per early trends, the global opening is expected in the vicinity of Rs 102 crore. In case, it falls short, still, something like Rs. 98 – 99 crores is locked. This will be the biggest ever for Bollywood, beating the previous best of Thugs of Hindostan by 30-35 per cent. There were reservations about whether the film can break the first-day record due to a non-holiday mid-week release. Mid-week release is a big limiting factor overseas, as the business is more weekend heavier. Pathaan, however, has not just taken the record but absolutely tore the record book. 
Australia box office was already reported yesterday, where the film grossed A$570,000 on its first day. Today is going to be another big day down under, with hourly numbers already close to A$500,000, the film can potentially see growth in collections. In neighbouring New Zealand, the film took a stellar N$110,000 first day, also a record opening day for a Bollywood movie.
In North America, Pathaan is looking at a $1.50 million plus opening day, which is not only a record for mid-week release but also the overall record as well, comfortably beating Padmaavat’s $1.14 million. Normally, this start would mean $9 million plus a 5-day weekend but even something like $7 million plus would be absolutely terrific. The current best 5-day figure for Bollywood films is $5.40 million by Padmaavat.
Now the above three markets have been underperformers for Shah Rukh Khan in the recent past, so one can only imagine better in his strongholds and they did deliver on that. The film has amassed a crazy $1.25 million approx in the Middle East, which is more than double the previous mid-week release, and very close to the $1.35 million of Sultan which it did on the Eid holiday. The 5-day weekend here can be $5 million-plus, possibly beating the $5.30 million of Sultan on Eid 2016.
In the United Kingdom, the early numbers are suggesting opening day will be GBP 300,000 plus which will be an all-time record. This market has been dormant for Bollywood for a long long time, even crossing GBP 200,000 has become increasingly rare and here Pathaan has gone a level higher on a non-holiday Wednesday. The smaller European markets like Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, etc or in the Far East like Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia have also put in strong numbers.
With $4 million plus already in the bank for the film on Wednesday, the 5-day weekend can go as high as $18-19 million but even in a scenario where the film is more front-loaded than usual due to a big start, it should cross $15 million at a bare minimum. The conventional weekend frame i.e. Friday-Sunday in most markets should be well over $11-12 million which will be a new record for Bollywood films.
The article will be updated with actuals
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