It was yet another good week for Madgaon Express as the weekdays stayed super stable all over again. The film brought in Rs. 1.13 crores* more between Monday to Thursday and that’s really good because the week before Rs. 1 crore had come in. While the film is as it is having a good run, it was further buoyed by mid-week partial holiday on Wednesday owing to Maharashtra Day and Labour Day.

The film is now enjoying the kind of run that Excel Entertainment’s Fukrey had back in the day. That film too had trended well and is now a successful franchise. Even from the genre perspective it had a similar stage and setting of being a quirky comedy. Now Kunal Kemmu has brought his own characteristic style to the film and rest assured, he would certainly be bringing the next instalment as well since this one too deserves to be a franchise.

The film has now also crossed the Rs. 35 crores* mark and with Rs. 24 lakhs* more coming in Friday, around Rs. 2 crores* more are set to be added this week as well. Currently, the film stands at Rs. 35.60* crores and with an entire month ahead, it actually has a realistic chance of hitting Rs. 40 crores mark, hence emerging as a good success.

*Estimates. Final numbers awaited

Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources

2024 has now seen another century at the box office, what with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire entering the Rs. 100 Crores Club*. The film had a good first week when it scored a solid half century and now it has also gone past the Rs. 100 crores mark*, which is quite good because typically films don’t really double up their first week score. However, the Hollywood biggie has been consistently collecting and lack of any competition is helping its cause as well.

This can well be seen from the fact that right through the weekdays, the film was in excess of Rs. 40 lakhs, which is excellent when compared to Friday when Rs. 46 lakhs had come in. In fact, on Wednesday the film had zoomed to Rs. 85 lakhs* due to Maharashtra Day and Labour Day, and that further allowed the film to go past the Rs. 100 crores mark quickly. With its current total standing at Rs. 100.50 crores*, the film will comfortably go past the Rs. 105 crores mark and with some luck could even aim for Rs. 110 crores since May is pretty barren as well.

For the industry, the film has brought some respite since it’s only the third Rs. 100 Crores Club film after Fighter (which went past the Rs. 200 crores mark) and Shaitaan (which has recently edged past the Rs. 150 crores mark). One now waits to see which is the best film that will arrive and score a century at the box office.

*Estimates. Final numbers awaited

Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources

This could well be a first. Though in the past too there have been instances when films haven’t been released in theatres for a long period of time, once when there was a film strike around a decade and a half back, and then later when IPL (Indian Premiere League) started showing its might due to which films started shying away from arriving in theatres during that time period, the only instance when there was practically a complete blackout was during the pandemic.

However, in a first, even though just IPL is competition (which is not as big as it used to be), theatres will be having a completely barren look tomorrow. There is not a single film - read again, not a single film - releasing tomorrow. The industry rails have come to a screeching halt since the Eid releases and while there was a film or two that arrived every Friday even post that, currently there is just no film planned for arrival in theatres. The reason stated is that elections are keeping filmmakers away though honestly, this could actually have been a better time to arrive because after people cast their votes, they could have easily come to theatres, which anyways have their best occupancy post afternoon.

None of the holdover releases are doing any great shakes either with not even Rs. 1 crore coming for any of the films (individually) on a daily basis. Collections are reeling in just lakhs and collective numbers of Bollywood films are less than 2 crores on a daily basis against a capacity of Rs. 70-80 crores. That’s an average occupancy of 2.5% per screen, per show. From tomorrow, it’s only going to get worst.

Let that sink in!

After bringing Rs. 13.04 crores in the week gone by, Maidaan is now set to have its best week on week hold this week with over Rs. 7.50 crores more expected to come in. This has been made possible by some progress that the film managed to make over the weekend when collections jumped from Rs. 0.50 crores on Friday to Rs. 2.20 crores* on Sunday, which is more than double. As a result, the weekend score read Rs. 4.80 crores*.

Now with around Rs. 60 lakhs* more coming on Monday and then stability expected in rest of the weekdays, the third week numbers should close around Rs. 7 crores mark, which would be a reasonable drop from last week collections of Rs. 13.04 crores. That would mean a drop of just a little over 35%, which would be good hold.

That said, all of this is academic since even though from percentage perspective the drop is contained, what’s required is that absolute numbers are good too and this is where Maidaan needed (and deserved) to do so much better. For a biggie like this, such kind of numbers would have seemed better had they come in the fifth week but right now we are taking about third week and that too when the start of the film was really disheartening. It’s all about picking up the best of what’s coming the way of this well-made Ajay Devgn starrer and adding on to Rs. 44.69 crores* that it has collected so far. Soon enough it will go past the Rs. 50 crores mark and then also manage to add some more.

*Estimates. Final numbers awaited

Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources

It was a fair weekend for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire as a little over Rs. 2.50 crores* came in. Given the fact that there is no real competition around it and it's also a set film, at least a crore more could well have come in. However, a majority of audiences has already watched the film and the footfalls are now primarily coming in because there is no major alternative. Hence, they are basically trickling in some sort of numbers instead of a large crowd gathering for the film on a daily basis.

That said, the film has more than just done its job and is a big hit already. In the times when so many new movies are simply dead on arrival, this one at least managed to not just take an opening but also sustain well, hence promising to come close to double its first week score of Rs. 54 crores. It won't reach exactly Rs. 108 crores but then has a shot at concluding its theatrical run around Rs. 105 crores mark.

Before that, it's gearing up now for its major milestone of gaining an entry into the Rs. 100 Crores Club. Currently at Rs. 98.32 crores*, it's now less than Rs. 2 crores away from hitting the century, and that should happen by the next weekend. Then it will eventually go past the lifetime scores of other Hollywood biggies Jurassic World [Rs. 101 crores] and Thor: Love and Thunder [Rs. 101.70 crores] as well, though it will fall short of Furious 7 [Rs. 108 crores].

That said, it's a superhit nonetheless, especially in today's parlance, and that's an achievement in itself.

*Estimates. Final numbers awaited

Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources