Rishab Shetty’s much-anticipated film, Kantara: Chapter 1, is gearing up for its release on October 2, and early ticket sales in the US are showing a mixed but hopeful picture.

While there is clear excitement, the pre-sales numbers reveal some major trends.

The movie has grossed about $ 113,000 from advance sales, with nearly 4,900 tickets sold across the country. This is a 20% increase from when the film’s trailer dropped, but it is still a long way from the $532,000 in pre-sales recorded by KGF Chapter 2, another major Indian film release.

Which are the states with highest pre-sales?

According to Venky Box Office’s data, when we break down the US sales by state, the film is performing well in areas with a strong Indian diaspora. Texas leads the way, with $63,363 in sales from 54 locations and over 1,200 tickets sold.

California follows with $35,760 from 51 locations and 1,640 tickets sold. North Carolina is also doing well, bringing in $15,931 with 643 tickets sold.

North Carolina is leading with a 16% occupancy rate, while states like Utah and Arizona are at 12% and 11%, respectively. Many other states, though, are showing less than 5% occupancy, which suggests there’s still a lot of potential to grow.

Some areas like the Midwest and North haven’t seen strong pre-sales, and markets like Washington, New Jersey, and New York, while showing some promise, are still below expectations for major cities.

Kantara: Chapter 1 pre-sales in India

In India, Kantara Chapter 1 received massive advance booking. It has already grossed over ₹5.7 crore from advance bookings, selling about 1.7 lakh tickets. The film has outperformed recent big releases like OG and War 2 in terms of pre-sales and is expected to surpass the ₹400 crore worldwide gross that the original Kantara earned.