While big numbers were expected from the recent Marvel offering Avengers Endgame, the film is currently snapping all records at the Indian box office.
From outpacing its prequel Avengers Infinity War on opening day to scoring higher first weekend collection than any Bollywood movie, the 22nd venture from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is rewriting record books and even challenging the biggest Indian film, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion.
In four days of its release (April 26), Endgame has reached a grand total of Rs 190 crore (Rs 53.50 crore + Rs 52 crore + Rs 53.50 crore + Rs 31 crore).
Avengers Endgame has surpassed the lifetime business of The Jungle Book (Rs 188 crore), becoming the second-highest Hollywood grosser in India. And it wouldn’t be a tall ask for the film to go past Infinity War (Rs 222.69 crore) as Endgame has already challenged its opening weekend business with a 67 percent surge in the collections on the first three days.
The film is maintaining a strong momentum during weekdays and the proof of this is its Monday business with collection to the tune of Rs 30 crore.
Although there is 40 percent drop from a day earlier, its business is second-highest for a Monday, with Baahubali 2 leading the charts. As for Hindi films, no movie yet has been able to rake in Rs 31 crore on the first day of the week, claims Box Office India, a Bollywood news portal.
Industry estimates suggest that the film is likely to mint Rs 275 crore during the first week, and by the second , the superhero flick could touch the Rs 300-crore target.
Baahubali 2's Hindi version alone had raked in Rs 374 crore by its second week.
It would be a mammoth task for Avengers Endgame to beat the second film from the Baahubali franchise, but in some circuits, the film has managed to do that. These include Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, where the collections for three days stood at Rs 27 crore. On the other hand, Baahubali 2 had gathered around Rs 23 crore in three days in these circuits.
The ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) and Lok Sabha elections have not made any difference to the business of Avengers Endgame. In addition, the film released on a non-holiday and has also shattered the myth that only a massive screen count is key to rake in big numbers, especially on opening day. The film’s occupancy was a lot higher than (Hindi) films that open in as many as 4,000 plus screens.
Even high prices of movie tickets did not deter cine-goers from hitting the theatre to watch Endgame. In Delhi’s PVR, ticket prices went as high as Rs 2,400, while prices reportedly reached Rs 1,765 in Mumbai. Yet, the shows went housefull, showing that when the content is worth it, people are ready to spend and that the charm of going to theatres will not fade away.
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