The box office collections of films across the world have been affected due to the coronavirus pandemic. Audiences are slowly returning to the theatres, but not fast enough to restore the makers’ full faith in a theatrical release. As a result, many studios are sticking to their release strategy and watching market trends, while some choose hybrid or direct-to-digital release models to ensure that their products reach the least amount of audience and investment. Come back
Meanwhile, some of the latest films have tried to channel the much-needed energy into the theatrical business, but the results are not encouraging. Hollywood’s big-budget films like Fast and Furious 9, Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, The Suicide Squad and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It mostly based on franchise goodwill. Nevertheless, they have shown positive signs in reviving the business. On the other hand, Indian narrators of Belbottom, Chehre, Chal Mera Put 2, Labam and now Thalaivi have done only lukewarm business.
According to the report of Box Office India, Bellbottom’s first weekend collection (4 Days) released on 19th August in India was close to Rs 13 crore. Compare this with the Rs 64.99 crore collected by Good Newwz, Akshay’s last film before the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown, in its opening weekend. And it was much less than the extended opening weekend earnings of his second big film of 2019, Mission Mangal – Rs 97.56 crore. It is evident in the data how expectations crashed due to pandemic restrictions and cinema exhibitions are yet to resume in a large market like Maharashtra.
Despite having Chehre, Amitabh Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi as the cast, the opening weekend recorded very low box office figures and collections remained below Rs 2 crore. The niche audience of such films cannot be responsible for such great business.
Thalaivi, playing the role of J Jayalalithaa opposite Kangana Ranaut, was offered a two-week release window, leading to a standoff with the exhibitors. The film saw a limited release due to disagreements between theaters and producers. The box office collection of Thalaivi in the opening weekend stood at Rs 4.75 crore across all language versions.
Tamil film Labam with actor Vijay Sethupathi also registered a decent opening in the first weekend and collected Rs 4 crore in four days, though it was a wider release than Thalaivi.
Punjabi movie Chal Mera Put 2 performed comparatively better due to good pull in local markets. It collected Rs 3.75 crore in the opening weekend and as per reports, it has also allowed a few packed houses to stay.
However, when it comes to the theater business in India, Hollywood’s big budget fares fared somewhat better than local films. Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi collected Rs 10.75 crore in the first weekend. Its collections were similar to those of Bellbottom. Both the films had made comparable earnings of around Rs 15 crore in the first week as well. So far, all versions of Shang-Chi have earned Rs 23.28 crore since its release on 2 September.
As the numbers have clearly indicated that the box office business is suffering a huge loss. It will be interesting to see how upcoming Hollywood theaters like Venom: Let There Be Carnage, A Quiet Place Part II, Don’t Breathe 2, Free Guy and The Green Knight perform at the box office.
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