MUMBAI: Sony Pictures‘ The Karate Kid blew away competition and took the number one spot at the US box-office grossing $56 million.

In India too, the film edged out two other high-profile Hollywood films that released simultaneously last week, roping in Rs 45 million in the opening weekend box-office. Besides releasing in English, the film also released in Hindi and Tamil. That makes Jackie Chan‘s number one opening film in India.

Comments Sony Pictures managing director Kercy Daruwala, "The film has universal appeal and has been greatly appreciated by action fans and family audiences. We continue to expect strong numbers in the coming week, thanks to the extremely positive word of mouth and the fact that many shows were housefull during the weekend."

"Due to the ongoing summer vacation in most parts of India, the central character being a kid and the starring role by Jackie Chan, we judged that kids would be the core audience and would eventually bring their parents to the theatres. We targetted them aggressively through kids channels, on ground promotions such as "Kick as high as the Karate Kid", Karate Kid branded stationery and partnering with martial arts tournaments," said Director - Marketing Bhavesh Thakkar. "We also targetted Tamil Nadu very strongly since it has a huge and loyal Jackie Chan fan base. We believe this helped The Karate Kid to stand apart on its own and become a must-watch film for families."

Sony Pictures will now release the Telugu version on 2 July.