The box office collections for movies across the world have taken a hit due to the coronavirus pandemic. The audience are slowly returning to the cinemas but not steadily enough to restore the makers’ full faith in a theatrical release. As a result, many studios are staying put with their release strategy and observing market trends, while some opt for hybrid or direct-to-digital release models to ensure their products at least reach the audience and investments are returned.
Meanwhile, some of the latest movies have tried to infuse the much-needed energy into the theatrical business but the results are far from encouraging. Hollywood big budget fares 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 banked on franchise goodwill. Nevertheless, they have shown positive signs in reviving business. On the other hand, Indian narrative fares BellBottom, Chehre, Chal Mera Putt 2, Labaam and now Thalaivii have managed only lukewarm business.
The first weekend collection (4 days) of BellBottom, released on August 19 in India, as per Box Office India report was close to Rs 13 crore. Compare this with the Rs 64.99 crore collected in its opening weekend by Good Newzz, Akshay’s last film before the first nationwide Covid-19 lockdown. And that was far less than the extended opening weekend earnings — Rs 97.56 crore — of his other big 2019 film, Mission Mangal. It’s evident in the figures how expectations crashed due to pandemic restrictions and a major market like Maharashtra still not resuming cinema exhibition.
Chehre, despite Amitabh Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi as cast members, registered quite low box office figures in the opening weekend and collections stood below Rs 2 crore. The niche audience of such films could account for the not-so-great business.
Thalaivii, with Kangana Ranaut playing J Jayalalithaa, had offered a two week release window which led to a stand off with exhibitors. The movie saw limited release due to disagreement between theaters and producers. The box office collections of Thalaivii in the opening weekend stood at Rs 4.75 crore in all language versions.
Tamil film Laabaam with actor Vijay Sethupathi also registered a decent opening in the first weekend and collected Rs 4 crore in four days, although it had a wider release than Thalaivii.
Punjabi film Chal Mera Putt 2 did comparatively better due to good pull in the local markets. It collected Rs 3.75 crore in the opening weekend and as per reports, it even some packed houses where occupancy was allowed.
However, the Hollywood big budget fares did somewhat better than local films when it came to theatre business in India. Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi collected Rs 10.75 crore in the first weekend. It’s collections were in the same range as BellBottom. The two films had comparable earning of Rs 15 crore approximately in the first week as well. All versions of Shang-Chi till now have earned Rs 23.28 crore after release on September 2. Fast & Furious 9 had a decent four day weekend of Rs 8 crore.
As numbers have clearly indicated that box office business is suffering big time. It will interesting to see how upcoming Hollywood theatre releases 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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