Bollywood superstar Salman Khan's latest release, "Sultan" has broken the record of highest opening collection at the Pakistan box office by earning Rs 116 million on the first three days of its release.
"Sultan" collected over Rs 76 million on the first two days since its release on Eid (Wednesday) and another Rs 40 million on the third day.
"It has broken all previous records for highest opening collection which is beyond our expectations," a spokesperson for Geo films, which distributed the film in Pakistan, said.
Released on Eid, "Sultan" took just two days to break the previous highest opening collection record set by Pakistani film, "Jawani Phir Nahi Aani", released last year by Humayun Saeed.
JPNA had done business of around Rs 75 million on the three days of Eid ul Azha holidays last year.
"We are expecting 'Sultan' to touch the Rs 150 million mark in its opening weekend. Tickets for the first five days have already been sold out in advance at most cineplexes and single screen theatres," the spokesman said.
Nadeem Mandviwalla, a prominent distributor, exhibitor and owner of Atrium cinemas, said, "'Sultan' got the advantage of long holidays. Basically Eid holidays have run from Wednesday to Sunday because of the weekend."
He also noted that "Sultan" doing a record breaking business, despite its pirated copies being released on DVDs on Eid day, spoke highly of the star power of Salman.
Sultan's successful run at the box office also dented the collections for other Eid releases like new Pakistani film, "Sawal 700 Crore Ka", Hollywood movie "Tarzan" and Pixar's animated film "Finding Dory."
Mandviwalla said "Sultan" had been released on 75 screens as exhibitors were running special shows going into late night to fulfill the demand for tickets.
"We are running extra shows but every show is packed in advance. There are also black tickets being sold openly," a worker at Capri cinema said.
