E.T. abbreviation is for Etharkkum Thunindhavan is a film that has had a slow beginning at the box office, with an estimated cost of Rs. 9.50-9.75 crores on its first day of business at Indian movie box offices. The film was the lowest beginning for a popular actor Suriya in more than 10 years, with the single digits for its opening day revenue. From the beginning of 2010 to the late 2010s Suriya had a good record of giving two-digit openings, with impressive numbers outside of Tamil Nadu as well. Through the years Suriya’s Tamil Nadu openings got stagnant and his openings outside Tamil Nadu kept declining. With the years of inflation, openings that are below Rs. 10 crores are a bit depressing.
The film made an estimated Rs. 6-6.25 crores in Tamil Nadu playing at around 350 locations. This is less in comparison to Suriya’s prior two films NGK (Rs. 10.15 crores) and Kaappaan (Rs. 7.12 crores). In the past five years for Suriya his debut, the opening was just a fraction higher than his debut film of 2018 Thaanaa Serndha Koottam (Rs. 5.80 crores). The ideal scenario, which the film accomplished at the Indian level, could be made in Tamil Nadu.
The geographical breakdown of the box office opening day collections for Etharkkum Thunindhavan can be described as the following:
In Tamil Nadu – Rs. 6.25 crores
In AP/TS – Rs. 1.75 crores
In Kerala – 1 crore
In Karnataka – Rs. 50 lakhs
Finally the Rest of India – Rs. 25 lakhs
Total amount – The total amount received to the box office is. 9.75 crores worldwide.
The film was the first time on large screen screens for Suriya after nearly three years from Kaappaan in the year 2019. But before this, he’s not performed as well in the box office for over a decade. His two most recent films skipped the theatrical release and debuted digitally and received a highly favorable social reaction. There was some hope that this might not only be the return to the big screen of Suriya for the large screen, but also the return of the superstar. The decline is still evident, with E.T., not a great starting.
Director Pandiraj’s two previous releases, Kadaikutty Singam and Namma Veettu Pillai, both had a rocky beginning but did well to earn more than Rs. 50 crores or more in the state, and this is what the film is hoping for. The first reports from the audience aren’t as strong as those of the other two earlier ones, but they’re good enough. The film must not see a significant drop in the present, and to reach the opening day total on Saturday and follow that with seeing a significant increase on Sunday, but this isn’t as easy to do.