Stage set for Hollywood’s big box office clash
In what’s shaping up to be the biggest weekend for Hollywood at the box office after many months, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie are set to engage in a theatrical clash, generating immense excitement not only for the viewers in their home market but also among Indian fans. Nolan’s devoted fan base and the movie’s positioning as a big-screen spectacle shot on IMAX are helping the epic Robert Oppenheimer biographical thriller dominate advance ticket sales in India.
Theatres in cities such as Mumbai and Delhi have scheduled IMAX screenings as early as 12 am and 3.30 am on Friday morning. “These tent-pole films are coming from celebrated filmmakers and the advances have been impressive for both, although Oppenheimer is leading for now," Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, executive director of PVR Inox Ltd, said.
It has already secured 25% of all advances for Oppenheimer and 20% for Barbie for the opening weekend. For Oppenheimer’s IMAX shows, 50% of advance bookings have been locked in, and the film is likely to make Rs7-8 crore over the opening weekend in India, while Barbie may ring in Rs4-5 crore.
While it is common for south Indian productions to screen early morning shows for big-ticket films on the first day, it is not common for Hollywood films in India, barring blockbusters like Avengers: Endgame. Moreover, while it is not unusual for Hindi language films to clash at the Indian box office, Bijli said this is the first time that two Hollywood blockbusters will directly compete for attention, especially at a time Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One, which was released last week, continues to perform strongly.
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