Advance bookings for Prabhas’ The Raja Saab in the USA opened a few days ago. Since this is Prabhas’ first full-fledged commercial film after a long gap, expectations were high for a strong response. However, ticket sales have remained slow.
Initially, bookings showed promise, but they soon dropped and have not picked up despite the release of promotional content. The recently launched second single, Sahana Sahana, also failed to boost sales.
Trade circles had expected The Raja Saab to easily cross $2 million in premiere collections, but current trends show the USA bookings at only $150K, making the $2M target look very difficult unless there is a sudden surge.
The film’s North America breakeven is $7.5M, and achieving that requires a strong premiere in the $2M range. All hopes now rest on the upcoming pre-release event in Hyderabad, planned for this weekend, along with the trailer launch, which is expected to generate big buzz and possibly turn the tide for bookings.