Aamir Khan granted rare profitsharing deal at China box office
BEIJING: Bollywood star Aamir Khan and his Aamir Khan Productions (AKP) have been granted a rare gift by China’s film authorities.
Secret Superstar is the first Indian film to be granted a lucrative revenue-sharing slot under China’s film import quota.
This privilege is usually reserved for imports from Hollywood, and few are awarded to films from other countries.
Each year, American movies typically get 30 or so of the country’s 34 annual revenuesharing slots.
Unlike his previous China theatrical releases Dhoom 3, PK, and Dangal, Khan’s company and its partners (including his wife Kira Rao) and backers will receive 25 per cent of the gross box office revenue that Secret Superstar collects during its cinematic run in China.
Dhoom 3 and PK were sold to Chinese distributors in buyout arrangements that probably brought Khan and AKP flat fees below US$1 million each.
Last year, Aamir was reported to have earned a sizeable share of the grosses from Dangal, but not nearly as much as the 25 per cent share that Secret Superstar will bring him.
Dangal, with its nearly US$200 million China gross, may have brought Khan box office bonuses, but it’s highly unlikely that he earned more than a fraction on that film of what Secret Superstar could potentially deliver to him.
If the movie comes in at the low end of my projections it will pay him and his company some US$5 million to US$6 million.
At the high end his take could exceed a jaw-dropping US$25 million (RM100 million).