The Hollywood release, The Hangover Part II, was off to a flying start in the US. The Wolf Pack made a whooping $86.5 million over the weekend, bringing its four-day opening came to $118.1 million! It grossed US $10.4 million in the midnight shows on the opening day (Thursday, May 26), shattering the previous midnight-opening record for an R-rated film. The sum also more than doubled the record for a midnight opening of any 2011 film to-date. The opening day’s collection went up to $31.7 million, a new record for a comedy film. The expectations were huge for the sequel after the runaway success of the first part, The Hangover.
Both the Hollywood sequels released this week, ‘The Hangover Part II’ and
Kung Fu Panda 2, opened simultaneouly in India too. Both also had paid previews on Thursday (May 26) in India, which recorded impressive attendance at many centres. The collections of the paid previews and of Friday of ‘The Hangover Part II’ were especially brilliant! Even in centres where English films don’t normally fare too well, ‘The Hangover’ sequel has been off to a flying start. For instance, it collected Rs. 1,81,880 on Friday on one print in Jaipur, which was shuttled between two multiplexes viz. Inox Pink Square (Rs. 32,880) and Inox CP (Rs. 1,49,000). The audience count at Inox Pink Square was 233 whereas it was 1,028 at Inox CP. At PVR multiplex in Indore, the film collected Rs. 1,54,127 on the first day. A total of 1,308 people saw the film. Collection in Kota at Fun multiplex: Rs. 33,560/- on 1 print. Audience count: 250! In Bhopal, a total of 494 people saw the film on the opening day, yielding a collection of 72,576/-. Point to be noted is that there were very few press ads of the film through the week as the censor certificate was issued late on Wednesday.