Sultan Box Office Opening

The morning shows on the day of release is the true test of stardom. No film, barring FAN and Baaghi, has even taken a decent initial this year. But Salman Khan’s Sultan has taken the box office by storm, giving the industry its first ‘bumper’ opening of 2016.

Even with a massive release and multiplexes running a very high number of shows, most shows up until 11AM in the morning were running at 80-90% occupancy with quite a few late morning shows packed to capacity.

Every circuit has opened well, Delhi/UP is outstanding with the film recording very high occupancy and collections in the NCR region. Mumbai circuit has opened well and ‘class’ circuits like Mysore and West Bengal are excellent too. Response in Bangalore has been terrific, Mangalore is recording twice more occupancy than any other film this year. In Bengal too, Salman is making his presence felt in a big way. Tamilnadu, Kerala and Nizam circuits are recording lower occupancy as compared to other circuits, but these circuits too should catch up as the day progresses. C.I, C.P Berar, Rajasthan, East Punjab were all terrific in the morning.

There are signs already that Sultan is well on course to make history on Day 1 at the box office. The opening is bigger than Salman’s last two Eid releases ‘Kick’, ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ and comparable to the response that ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ got on the day of its release.

Only a couple of actors in the industry have consistently delivered when it comes to challenging opening day records, but Salman is probably the only actor who has pushed the limit higher on a consistent basis with films like Dabangg (2010), Bodyguard (2011) and Ek Tha Tiger (2012). Sultan falls in that league and it wouldn’t be surprising if the film manages a record-smashing opening day.

Opening Day occupancy of films in 2016

• Sultan – 75-80% (partial holiday)
• FAN - 55% (partial holiday)
• Housefull 3 – 35%
• Baaghi - 35%
• Airlift - 35%
• Kya Kool Hai Hum 3 - 30%
• Rocky Handsome - 30% (holiday)
• Ki and Ka - 25%
• Kapoor & Sons - 25%
• Ghayal Once Again - 25%
• Sanam Re – 20%
• Mastizaade - 15%
• Neerja – 15%
• Jai Gangaajal – 15%
• Wazir – 15%
• Saala Khadoos – 8%
• Fitoor – 15%
• 1920 London – 10%
• One Night Stand – 7%
• Love Games – 5%
• Traffic – 3%