Pawan Kalyan’s ‘They Call Him OG’ mints over USD 80,000 from less than 50 shows from USA advance sales

Pawan Kalyan’s much-anticipated action entertainer They Call Him OG is already setting the box office on fire weeks before its premiere. The film, which is slated to open globally on 25th September, began its advance bookings in select locations across the United States on Tuesday and the response has been nothing short of electric.According to early trade reports, OG grossed USD 82,681 from just 46 shows, and sold more than 2,800 tickets within hours of bookings going live. What makes this figure even more remarkable is the fact that only a handful of theaters have opened sales so far, with more chains expected to follow in the coming days. Several shows have already sold out completely, including those with handicapped-accessible seats—an indicator of the surging demand among overseas Telugu audiences.This roaring start signals a storm in the making. Pawan Kalyan, who commands one of the most loyal fanbases in Indian cinema, appears to be on course for one of his biggest-ever openings in the U.S. The film arrives close on the heels of his period drama Hari Hara Veera Mallu, which had a relatively modest lifetime haul in the United States of America, in the vicinity of $1 million. With OG, expectations are sky-high, and the early trends suggest the film could shatter multiple benchmarks if momentum holds.Directed by Sujeeth, best known for helming Saaho headlined by Prabhas. It was his first film after the global juggernaut Baahubali 2. They Call Him OG promises to be a slick action drama mounted on a large canvas. The presence of Bollywood actor Emraan Hashmi in a powerful negative role adds further intrigue to the project, marking his first significant outing in South Indian cinema. Industry trackers note that the USD 82,000-plus advance tally from such a limited release pattern is on par with early bookings of other top-tier Telugu blockbusters in recent years. With 28 days still left until premieres, the film is expected to expand across hundreds of locations in North America, giving it ample runway to clock record advance sales. Trade experts predict that if the current trajectory continues, They Call Him OG could challenge the opening weekend benchmarks set by recent Tollywood heavyweights.