Vijay Deverakonda has returned to the big screens with his film ‘Kingdom’ after a series of underwhelming projects from the past few years. The action packed spy thriller, which released on July 31, has kicked off its theatrical run with impressive box office figures and largely positive reviews.
Kingdom Box Office Collection Day 1:
According to early estimates by trade tracker Sacnilk, Kingdom earned a solid Rs 15.50 crore on its opening day, making it one of Deverakonda’s strongest career starts. While it falls just short of his 2022 film Liger, which opened to Rs 16 crore but eventually bombed at the box office, Kingdom has already outperformed his 2023 romantic drama Kushi, which opened at Rs 15.25 crore.
The theatre turnout shows the excitement around the film. On Day 1, the Telugu version had a strong start with about 58% overall occupancy, with morning shows hitting around 64% and picking up again at night to over 61%. In comparison, the Tamil version had a quieter opening, with just 19% average turnout, though night shows saw a small increase.
About Kingdom:
Vijay Deverakonda plays the role of Surya, a secret agent sent on a dangerous mission. But things go wrong, and he finds himself trapped in enemy territory and finally imprisoned. While trying to survive, he unexpectedly becomes close to the very people he was supposed to take down.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Vijay Deverakonda shared that the makers of ‘Kingdom’ wanted to go big with this project. He said, “The idea is to always go big, but this is not because something didn’t work or worked. Kingdom happened because Gowtam had a vision, and we wanted to tell this in the most compelling, exciting, realistic, and believable way. It’s a story set in a certain time amidst the background of war. But it’s also a personal story, in the backdrop of chaos and destruction. That brings the scale in itself. There’s no scale for the sake of it because of market forces; it is inherent.”
Produced by S Naga Vamsi and Sai Soujanya under Sithara Entertainments and Fortune Four Cinemas, ‘Kingdom’ also stars Bhagyashri Borse, Satyadev, and Manish Chaudhary in key roles.
