Coolie, a star-studded entertainer featuring Shruti Haasan, Nagarjuna Akkineni, Soubin, Aamir Khan, Upendra, Sathyaraj, and led by Superstar Rajinikanth in the titular role, stormed into theaters with massive openings.
Powered by Rajinikanth’s stardom and director Lokesh Kanagaraj’s track record, the film has already grossed an impressive ₹400 crore worldwide.
While this marks a record for a Tamil film, Coolie needs to cross the ₹700 crore gross mark to achieve break-even.
In overseas markets, the picture is mixed. The USA run has been strong, with the film grossing $6.3 million so far and expected to close around $8 million, ensuring profits there.
However, performance in other key territories such as Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Europe, and the UK has been inconsistent and strong in some areas but underwhelming in others. As a whole, overseas revenues may fall short of break-even.
On the domestic front, the Telugu version has turned out to be a safe venture for distributors.
In Tamil Nadu, however, collections have been underwhelming and have not matched the numbers of Vijay’s Leo. The film also struggled in Kerala, though Karnataka looks set to recover its investment.
Overall, while Coolie has posted record-setting openings, it still has a long way to go before reaching break-even.
