Toilet: Ek Prem Katha trumps Baahubali 2 in China; becomes Akshay Kumar's first film to cross Rs 300 cr mark worldwide

At the end of the second weekend, Akshay Kumar’s satirical comedy-drama _Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (TEPK)_ has earned nearly $13.96 million (Rs 95 crore) in China and is currently inching towards the elusive Rs 100 crore mark in the world’s second-largest movie market. Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, which landed on 8 June in the Middle Kingdom, topped the opening weekend in China box-office with a cumulative three-day gross of $9.05 million (Rs 61.1 crore) and managed to hold off competition from Disney/Marvel’s blockbuster _Avengers: Infinity War_ , local smash hit How Long Will I Love U and Jean-Claude Van Damme’s action thriller Black Water. After standing atop the box-office chart on 9 and 10 June during the first weekend, TEPK slid to the second spot after local film How Long Will I Love U took over the first position and continued to shine at the ticket window for three consecutive days until Wednesday (13 June). However, JA Bayona’s sci-fi adventure _Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom_ replaced How Long Will I Love U in the daily box-office chart with just the preview screenings gross of $2.11 million when it hit screens on 14 June. [caption id=“attachment_3772523” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Pednekar in Toilet: Em Prem Katha. Image via Twitter[/caption] The 2015 blockbuster Jurassic World was a smash hit at the PRC box-office with a cumulative China gross of $228.74 million. Jurassic World is the tenth highest-grossing import film in the mainland, and it clearly shows why Fallen Kingdom has received an overwhelming reception at the China box-office with a remarkable opening weekend total of $114 million. While Toilet Hero, China title of Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, managed to put decent per-day totals until 14 June with the four-day box-office receipts amounting to $4.32 million (Rs 29.4 crore), the number of shows was drastically reduced from 15 June when Fallen Kingdom burst onto PRC screens. While Chinese exhibitors allotted nearly 52,000+ shows for TEPK until 14 June, the new influx of films in the Middle Kingdom, including Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, put the Shree Narayan Singh-directed movie on the backfoot. It received only 6,948 shows on 15 June and was placed at the sixth position at the box-office chart. The number of shows got scaled down on 16 and 17 June  with around 4,700+ shows. After surpassing the opening weekend takings of Salman Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan ($8.75 million) and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion ($7.63 million) with a good total of $9.05 million (Rs 61.1 crore), Toilet: Ek Prem Katha managed to pull in only a meager total of $0.58 million (Rs 3.94 crore) in the second weekend. The film’s 10-day China theatrical revenue of $13.96 million (Rs 95 crore) has powered the worldwide earnings to Rs 311.5 crore, making it the first movie of Akshay Kumar to enter the Rs 300-crore club. It’s an excellent feat for Akshay Kumar, one of the consistent performers at the Indian box-office with consecutive hits under his belt over the past few years. [caption id=“attachment_3373010” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Toilet: Ek Prem Katha. Image via Twitter[/caption] Shibasish Sarkar, COO, Reliance Entertainment, had anticipated the threat posed by Jurassic World while speaking to Firstpost last week. “Now, we have to see how it performs on the weekdays. And, Jurassic World is releasing next week in China, which will definitely take up a substantial number of shows,” he had said. Toilet Hero is the fifth Indian film to be imported into the Middle Kingdom this year after Aamir Khan’s _Secret Superstar_ , Salman Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan , Irrfan Khan’s _Hindi Medium_ and Prabhas-Rajamouli’s _Baahubali 2: The Conclusion_ . Donald Tang’s Tang Media Partners, a Reliance Entertainment affiliate, has handled the distribution rights of the film and Lianrui Picture of PRC’s state-owned corporation China Film Group has released the movie. The 10-day PRC earnings of $13.96 million have steered the film’s offshore total to $18.46 million (Rs 125 crore), making it the highest-grossing movie of Akshay Kumar in overseas markets. It’s also the first film of Akshay to touch the Rs 100 crore mark from international territories alone.