Box Office Face-Off: Is Nani's HIT 3 taking the lead over Suriya's Retro in USA pre-sales?

The buzz is building ahead of the highly anticipated releases of Nani's Telugu film HIT 3 and Suriya's Tamil movie Retro, with the two films gearing up for their grand premieres. As pre-sale numbers come in, Nani's HIT 3 seems to be taking an early lead, outshining Suriya's Retro in the USA market. With just a few days left until both films hit the big screens, the competition is already heating up.

Showcasing the solid demand around the film even before its release, Nani’s HIT 3 is making waves in the USA circuit with a massive USD 115,102 in pre-sales from across 300 locations. The film’s advance bookings have been nothing short of impressive, with thousands of tickets already sold. In stark contrast, with just USD 3,670 in pre-sales across 19 locations, Suriya’s Retro is struggling to keep up, while opening up more locations will do the needful for the movie anyway. The gap in advance ticket sales highlights the difference in the early buzz surrounding both films, feel trade pundits.

On the other hand, several factors contribute to HIT 3's mega pre-sales with one being the film a third installment of a popular franchise. That makes the film already has a built-in fanbase that are ready to watch the thriller. Additionally, the overseas distributors opened advance bookings of HIT 3 much earlier, thus propelling sales. On the other hand, Retro’s advance bookings have started late, and while Suriya’s fan following is immense, the early interest in Retro has not been as strong.

 

Both films have different strategies for their USA releases. HIT 3 is eyeing an extensive release, because it has to achieve a hefty breakeven target of $2.3 million. The film’s aggressive promotional efforts prove the same. In comparison, Retro’s approach is more restrained, with fewer locations and a smaller scale of marketing. Of course, there’s hope for a surge in Retro bookings as the release date nears.

At this point, HIT 3 is clearly leading in the race for pre-release attention and ticket sales. However, the true test will come with the films' weekend performances. Will Retro manage to catch up, or will Nani’s HIT 3 continue its domination? The next few days will be critical in determining how both films perform at the overseas box office.

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