Expect major box-office fireworks this Independence Day weekend as Ayan Mukerji’s action thriller War 2, starring Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR, and Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Coolie with Rajinikanth in the lead, gear up for theatrical release on August 14.
Patriotism meets popcorn
Coolie’s release date also coincides with Rajinikanth’s golden jubilee in cinema, with his debut film K Balachander’s Apoorva Raagangal released on August 15, 1975. That and the hysteria around any Rajini release have given Coolie a huge early advantage. Trade analyst Sumit Kadel said on X that the Rajinikanth starrer will deliver the “biggest ever for a Tamil film”. He estimates that the film will rake in somewhere around Rs 80-90 crore in India and Rs155-165 crore globally.
Produced by Sun Pictures, Coolie has already crossed the Rs 30-crore mark (1,421,430 tickets sold as advance bookings for day 1) in the domestic market, according to industry tracker Sacnilk. For its part, Yash Raj Films’ War 2 is expected to rake in Rs 60 crore (advance bookings for day 1; tickets sold: 626,475).
Big budget movie
The two movies have been mounted on mammoth budgets — Coolie at around Rs 350 crore and War 2 at Rs 400 crore, say insiders. Film critic Saibal Chatterjee says, “People in Chennai, Bengaluru are willing to shell out even Rs 2,500 for a ticket in the first two-three days. This will never happen in the North, though the film will run with full house at least for the first weekend.” Coolie is expected to release on 5,000 screens in about 100 countries.
In India, it will be released on about 1,980 screens, including about 1,000 screens in Tamil Nadu alone.
The Ayan Mukerji directorial will hit a staggering 5,000 screens across India for its Hindi version alone. The film will have dubbed versions in Telugu and Tamil since NTR is playing a lead role. Kadel says War 2 is likely to open at Rs 50-55 crore in India and is likely to make Rs 90-100 crore worldwide.