Salman Khan continues his midas touch in Canada now. The actor who has history of creating records at home is now doing it in Canada. Dr. Cabbie, produced by Salman Khan Films, starring in the lead role Vinay Virmani (Breakaway fame), Kunal Nayyar (Big Bang Theory), Adrienne Palacki (GI Joe) and launching Isabelle Kaif (Katrina Kaif’s sister) in association with Eone Entertainment and Eros International opened in Canada only and had a record opening at the box office on Friday, Sept 19th. With just 55 prints the film grossed a huge $350,452 with a record high per screen average of $6612.
Now if any one can beat this record anytime soon, it will be Salman himself. After eight years Salman recently visited Canada promoting the film and put on a free concert for 20,000 people. His loyal fans have now responded with an all time record on the opening day.
Vinay Virmani and Adrianne Palicki in a still from moive ‘Dr. Cabbie’
In Canada, the film was the second highest grosser (only behind Maze Runner). The film entered the Top-20 North American chart coming in at #13. The film had the highest per screen average of all movies released in Canada and USA on Sept. 19th. This has left many Hollywood Distributors and Studios wondering and writing about this tsunami called Dr. Cabbie.
Dr. Cabbie‘s opening has been extremely promising at the box office and surpassed many recent big star cast Hollywood films as well as Bollywood BIGGIES released in Canada. Theatres across Canada were sold out, with advance bookings in all cities. The film is expected to continue its success as it prepares for its international release.
Meanwhile two other Bollywood films released on the same day as Dr. Cabbie. Khoobsoorat grossed 27,605 dollars and Daawat-e-Ishq grossed 9,848 dollars on its opening day.
Here are some comparison of opening day figures in Canada of some recent Hollywood biggies, Bollywood all time biggies and some cross cultural films.
Opening day in Canada (in Dollars)
1. Hollywood (recent releases)
Hundred Foot Journey 271,411
The Captive ( Ryan Reynolds) 121,442
What If ( Daniel Radcliff ) 93,422
Breakaway ( Vinay Virmani) 166,000
Water 37,943
Midnight Children ( Deepa Mehta and Salman Rushdie) 20,750
Monsoon Wedding 19,355
Bend It Like Beckham 6,461*
The Lunchbox 5,671* (Life time biz in Canada is 551,000) opened on 4 screens and expanded to 30
The Namesake 5,401*
*These movies opened with limited/platform release on 4 to 5 screens each and later expanded
