Rajinikanth’s ‘Coolie’ is creating waves at the North American box office, surpassing his own film ‘2.0’ in just four days. The Lokesh Kanagaraj directorial has earned over USD 6 million, becoming the third-highest-grossing Tamil film in the region. ‘Coolie’ is now aiming to overtake ‘Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1’ and become the second highest grosser.
Rajinikanth has once again proven why he continues to be the undisputed superstar of Tamil cinema. His latest outing, Coolie, has stormed the North American box office, creating history in just a matter of days. The film, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, has not only struck a chord with audiences worldwide but has now secured its place among the top three biggest Tamil hits in North America.After a phenomenal opening weekend, Coolie minted an impressive USD 5.64 million in its first three days. The momentum did not stop there. By its fourth day, as of 9:30 AM IST, the film had added another USD 435,000, pushing its cumulative total past the USD 6 million mark. With this feat, Coolie has officially surpassed the lifetime North American collections of Rajinikanth’s own blockbuster 2.0, which had collected USD 5.43 million during its run.The achievement is particularly special as 2.0, directed by Shankar and co-starring Akshay Kumar, was considered one of Indian cinema’s grandest spectacles. Mounted on a massive budget, it had broken several records upon release. For Coolie to cross that benchmark in just four days cements both Rajinikanth’s enduring box office power and the film’s strong reception among diaspora audiences.The numbers speak highly as the film clashed with War 2 headlined by Hrithik Roshan, Jr NTR and Kiara Advani which went on to collect USD 3 million in 4 days. Now standing tall at over USD 6 million, Coolie has become the third-highest-grossing Tamil film in North America. The film is now eyeing Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1 starring Vikram and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, which had raked in around USD 6.4 million during its run. Industry experts suggest that with the film’s steady weekday hold and strong word-of-mouth, it is only a matter of time before Coolie crosses that figure to claim the No. 2 spot.But the journey of profit for Coolie is still far as the breakeven point for the film has been pegged at USD 7.5 million. So if the trend continues over the next weekend as well then everyone attached to the film will benefit. The only two films ahead of Coolie are Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1 and once again Rajinikanth’s own film Jailer both of which enjoyed tremendous overseas appeal.For now, Rajinikanth fans have yet another reason to celebrate. Their superstar has once again rewritten history—this time by outshining himself.Coolie also featured a host of big names like Nagarjuna,Shruti Haasan, Shoubin Shahir, Rachita Ram, Upendra and a cameo by Aamir Khan.
