The January 2026 box office in North America delivered record overall numbers for Telugu films, but the individual performance of releases tells a very different story.
The cumulative Telugu gross for January is set to close at around $8.5 million, the highest ever for the month. However, most films underperformed when judged against expectations and budgets.
Several factors hurt January releases this year. Odd-day release strategies and uneven show counts made planning difficult for distributors.
Multiple films arriving close to each other led to heavy competition for screens and audiences.
On top of that, bad weather during the second weekend in key markets further dented collections. As a result, while the combined total looks impressive, very few films truly maximised their potential.
The biggest January success was Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu, which emerged as the clear winner of the month. The film closed its North American run at $3.34 million, becoming the most successful Telugu release of January 2026 in the territory. It showed strong consistency across weekends and benefited from positive word of mouth.
Another solid performer was Anaganaga Oka Raju, which ended with $1.76 million. Despite moderate expectations, the film managed to find steady audience support and secured hit status.
Nari Nari Naduma Murari also finished on the positive side, collecting $758,000. Limited screens and late momentum restricted its upside, but the film still avoided losses.
On the flip side, Bhartha Mahasayulaku Wignyapthi ended January as a clear flop. The film closed at just $213,000 (around ₹1.95 crore), marking another disappointing overseas result for Ravi Teja.
Om Shanti Shanti Shantihi was released towards the end of the month and collected only $35,000, with premieres contributing a mere $16,000, making it a non-starter at the box office.
The biggest disappointment of January was The Raja Saab, which turned out to be a full-fledged disaster in North America. The film closed at $2.356 million (about ₹21.57 crore), far below its revised breakeven expectations.
The USA contributed $2.168 million, while Canada added $188,000. Language-wise, the Telugu version earned $2.295 million, the Hindi version just $58,000, and the Tamil version a negligible $3,000, clearly showing the lack of traction beyond the core market.
Overall, the January 2026 box office in North America followed a familiar pattern. One major hit lifted the total numbers, a couple of films managed decent results, but several releases failed badly.
Despite record cumulative figures, January once again proved that crowded release calendars, weak planning, and external factors like weather can severely impact individual film performance.
