Despite Bollywood still struggling at the box office, Hollywood and South India continue to soar to unprecedented heights.
Despite Bollywood still struggling at the box office, Hollywood and South India continue to soar to unprecedented heights.
The recently released superhero movie ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’, directed by shirtless Chris Hemsworth and Christian Bale for good measure, grossed Rs 64.80 crore domestically (Rs 83.61 crore minus GST) in the first four days of its theatrical release, according to trade sources.
Considering that Akshay Kumar’s much-publicized leading man ‘Samrat Prithviraj, to quote figures from Internet Movie Database (IMDb), was able to collect Rs 82.3 crore during its entire theatrical run, despite being tax-free in three major states, India’s movie-going public clearly likes its superheroes to be winners.
Independent film trade analyst Sumit Kadel, commenting on the figures, said ‘Thor’ has seen the fifth highest opening weekend ever for a Hollywood film in India.
“From Bollywood, only Kartik Aaryan starer ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ managed to earn Rs. 65 crores in its first weekend,” he said. He credited the powerhouse cast of ‘Thor’ and the brand value of Marvel Studios for drawing in the crowd.
Even the sleeper hit, ‘The Kashmir Files’, had a tepid first weekend but bounced back thanks to positive word of mouth. ‘The Kashmir Files’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’, and ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ are the only Hindi films in the IMDb Top 10.
The Indian box office figures for ‘Thor’, incidentally, mirrored those in the United States, where the film grossed $143 million in its opening weekend, making it the third highest grossing release after ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ ($187.4. million) and ‘Jurassic World Dominion’ ($145 million). million) and ‘Jurassic World Dominion’ ($145 million).
Will ‘Thor’ be able to sustain its opening surge? It is likely to see a drop in collections, but will still cross the Rs 100 crore safe zone. That will be significantly below the Rs 217.52 crores earned by ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’, but closer to the Rs 127.31 crores earned by ‘Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’; both films are Marvel releases, by the way.
So how are the next big Bollywood releases likely to fare in this market? According to Kadel, ‘Shamshera’ may bring a breather, given that it is an ‘event film’ and the buzz around its music may ensure a good opening.
However, the stakes are high for both Ranbir Kapoor, who returns to the big screen after four years, and YRF, the Aditya Chopra-led production house that has seen three of his recent releases: ‘Bunty Aur Babli 2’, ‘Jayeshbhai Jordaar’, and ‘Samrat Prithviraj’ being mauled at the box office.
Talking about Mani Ratnam’s upcoming epic ‘Ponniyin Selvan: I’, Kadel said that the film was mounted on a grand scale with a good cast to back the high production values. It is most likely to further strengthen South Indian cinema’s grip on the all-India box office.
As for the clash that will unfold next month with the release of Aamir Khan starer ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ and Akshay Kumar’s ‘Raksha Bandhan’ on the Independence Day long weekend, both films will offer stiff competition to each other, but make the box office resound with joy?
Chris Hemsworth poses on the red carpet at the premiere of Marvel Studios “Thor: Love and Thunder” at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles (Photo: Reuters)
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