MUMBAI: Fox Star Studios’ animation film Ice Age 3 has grossed Rs 22 million (Rs 2.2 crores) in India in its opening weekend. The movie was released with 60 prints and has beaten the opening weekend record of Hanuman, which had an opening of Rs 15 million (Rs 1.5 crores) on 150 prints.
Fox Star Studios India CEO Vijay Singh said, "Even though Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaur released with the hugely hyped Kambakkht Ishq, it has managed to get one of the highest openings for an animated film in India; even better than Hanuman. Even X-Men Origins: Wolverine was released with a Bollywood film, and outperformed it, grossing over Rs 100 million (Rs 10 crores) in its opening week."
"3D is a huge draw and there are a lot more 3D films releasing and the exhibitors need to gear up for this so as to make the 3D films accessible to a larger cross section of the public so that they can enjoy the movie the way it should," Singh added
The previous highest weekend collections for a Hollywood film was for Shrek 3, which had collected Rs 13 million (Rs 1.3 crores).
While Ice Age 2 was released with 30 English prints, Ice Age 3 was released with 67 prints (44 English, 11 Hindi, 12 English digital 3D) across India.
Sathyam Cinemas Chennai managing director Swaroop Reddy said, "The demand for the movie is phenomenal. All shows till now from Friday have been full in advance just minutes after opening the advance booking. The demand is nothing less than a Bollywood Block Buster."
Mukta Arts’ Sanjay Ghai added, "Ice Age 3 has got the highest opening for any animation movie in Delhi-NCR, and it’ll keep on growing week after week."
Prasadz Media Corp, Hyderabad programming head Venkat Prasad said, "Ice Age is a brand of its own and the third edition lives up to its expectations. The demand for the movie is superb. It’s not only the children who are fans of Ice Age. People of all age group are queuing up to watch the movie."
Worldwide Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs had an estimated box office collection of $148 million from 101 markets. The movie has been made on a budget of $ 90 million (with another $90 million for prints and marketing).
Ice Age 3 went out on 11,652 screens and the 3D result was significant, delivering $51 million from 2,126 screens for 34 per cent of the total revenue from 18 per cent of the screens in what was the widest and most lucrative 3D launch ever.
