How India became the second biggest box office market for Oppenheimer

India is behind the UK, where Oppenheimer collected $13.3 million. In France and Germany the film has earned $6.4 million each, while in countries like Australia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Brazil the film has earned $6.3 million, $4.5 million, $3.9 million and 2.5 million, respectively.

"This is the first time for a big film when India has come in the top three category. We have been in the top 5 and top 7 but top three is for the first time. For a Hollywood tent-pole firm, this is the first time India has contributed to the top three business doing countries after the home market," Girish Johar, producer and film business expert.

Exhibitor Vishek Chauhan, who owns a single-screen cinema in Bihar, also said that India has surpassed many traditional bigger markets for Oppenheimer which is a commendable feat. He added that the film's English version did well over the weekend in places like Purnea and Gaya where the English version outsold the Hindi version. The film is running in the India market only in two languages, English and Hindi.

India is one of only two countries (the other being Thailand) where Oppenheimer outshone the other big release, Barbie, pointed out Johar.

"Barbie and Oppenheimer saw global weekend hauls of $337 million and $174.2 million, respectively, wildly surpassing expectations. In India, however, Oppenheimer came out on top," noted Yogesh Kansal, chief marketing officer, Appreciate Wealth, a wealth advisory platform.

Oppenheimer and Barbie have done strong business in India with collections of Rs 55.5 crore and Rs 19.5 crore, respectively. Both films have seen a drop of 50 percent in their first weekday collection, which is usually the case for Hollywood films in India. Film trade analysts expect Oppenheimer to surpass Rs 100 crore in India.

Hollywood to score big

"Hollywood's share will go higher this year. If you see, films by Christopher Nolan have received traction from a niche audience in India which is unlike Oppenheimer that is clocking big box office numbers despite having no major action scenes or big actors known to the India market. Also, other Hollywood films have done well including Insidious, John Wick. Fast X crossed the Rs 100-crore mark and Mission Impossible (released on July 12) is close to the mark with collections at Rs 95 crore. I see a surge in the Hollywood box office this year," Johar added.

Hollywood currently accounts for a 12 percent share in the India box office. Its share is expected to go up as big Hollywood studios are firming up their release calendar with Warner Bros expected to release 12 films this year versus six in 2022, Universal Focus 23 compared to 19 last year, and Sony 19, up from 11 in 2022.

For major multiplex chains like PVR Inox, Hollywood's contribution to the box office revenues are significantly high. The contribution of PVR Inox to gross box office collections (GBOC) of English movies has been increasing with the company accounting for close to 60 percent of Hollywood GBOC in Q4FY23 in India, up from 25 percent in Q3.

Even for Oppenheimer and Barbie, PVR Inox contributed over 50 percent to their opening weekend collections. The multiplex chain contributed 55 percent to Oppenheimer's first three day collections and 65 percent to Barbie's box office numbers.

Stocks of PVR Inox on July 21 when the two Hollywood films released traded 3.8 percent higher at Rs 1,504 on National Stock Exchange (NSE). However, the shares traded lower 0.8 percent at Rs 1,481 each on July 25.

Stocks of international theatre chains too traded strong on the back of the two films performing well at the box office.

"Theatre chain AMC Entertainment shrugged off any lingering pandemic blues with its busiest weekend since 2019, with over 7.8 million people watching a movie at an AMC globally. This was one of the reasons which led to AMC stock surging 35.7 percent in premarket trading on Monday (July 24)," said Kansal.