MUMBAI: UTV Motion Pictures is amongst the top 20 film distributors in North America based on the US box office performance in the first six months of 2008.
UTV is the first Indian film studio ever to have crossed the $5 million revenue mark in the first half of the year. UTV releases grossed $ 5.48 million in the first 28 weeks of the year, making the company the leading Indian motion picture distributor in the United States and the only foreign language movie distributor in the Top 20.
The company achieved this with three releases this year – Jodhaa Akbar ($ 3.44 million), Race ($ 1.37 million) and Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na ($ 539,857 and counting). The box office total was also supported by Aamir Khan’s Taare Zameen Par, which was released in December 2007 anad continued its run well into 2008.
UTV established its operations in the US four years ago in 2004.
"The US market is one of our Top 3 priority markets worldwide and our sustained and relentless drive to produce and release quality content and then market and distribute it effectively, has helped us emerge as one of the top distributors in the most competitive market in the world," said UTV Motion Pictures CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur.
UTV has followed this box office performance in the first half of 2008 with the release of Shahid Kapur-Vidya Balan starrer Kismat Konnection on 18 July, 2008. Kismat Konnection has raked in over $ 280,000 in just its opening weekend.
UTV’s forthcoming films include Madhur Bhadarkar’s Fashion, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Delhi 6 and a co-production with Sohail Khan Productions Main Aur Mrs Khanna starring Salman Khan. The company’s first solo Hollywood production The Exterminators starring Heather Graham is currently in production in the US.
