The North American box office for Indian cinema in 2025, spanning the United States and Canada, is estimated at a robust $151 million, and within this space Telugu cinema once again proved its growing strength and reliability.
Hindi films led the overall tally with $62.5 million, but Telugu films followed with an impressive $36.5 million, reinforcing their position as the most influential South Indian industry in North America.
Punjabi cinema ranked next with $20 million, ahead of Tamil films at $15.7 million and Kannada films at $5.3 million.
This placement is largely driven by demographics, as the Punjabi population is significantly concentrated in Canada, where theatrical patronage is phenomenal and highly consistent, allowing Punjabi films to outperform Tamil and Kannada releases despite narrower linguistic reach.
Telugu cinema’s performance is particularly notable because it was achieved without any phenomenal blockbuster.
In the absence of event films on the scale of Pushpa, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, or Kalki, the industry still delivered $36.5 million purely on the back of volume, consistency and diaspora loyalty.
Had a blockbuster of that magnitude released in 2025, Telugu cinema could realistically have challenged, or even surpassed, the Hindi industry’s North American total.
Leading the Telugu box office was OG with $5.59 million, followed by Mirai at $3.07 million and Sankranthiki Vasthunam at $3 million.
Films like Kuberaa ($2.41 million), Daaku Maharaj ($1.57 million), Mad Square ($1.26 million), Court ($1.02 million), Little Hearts ($1.08 million), Akhanda 2 ($1 million) and The Girlfriend ($700,000) collectively strengthened the slate.
Out of nearly 75 Telugu releases in North America, about 15 emerged as profitable ventures, highlighting a maturing overseas market where Telugu cinema stands as the most dependable South Indian force.