Bollywood
Box Office Prediction: Shah Rukh Khan's Pathaan Eyes Historic Opening
Mumbai, January 19 - The Bollywood film industry is bracing itself for the blockbuster start of the year, thanks to Shah Rukh Khan-fronted spy action thriller Pathaan which is scheduled to hit big screens on January 25. The buzz for the movie is sky-high and the industry is anticipating something big with this Yash Raj Films' biggie. ## The advance booking for the movie was opened yesterday, and as you read this, it has already sold over 5 lakh tickets, including 260K in three national chains (PVR, Inox & Cinepolis) for the opening day in all formats. ## The advance booking collection of "Pathaan" has already crossed most of the Bollywood films' pre-sales post the covid-19 pandemic, and by tomorrow, it will be behind only "Brahmastra" which sold approx. 6 lakh tickets for the opening day in advance. The movie also stands a chance to cross "Brahmatra" opening day pre-sales by tomorrow or the day after.## As per the industry insiders, "Pathaan" will be released on over 4500 screens for the Hindi version, making it one of the biggest releases ever. The industry is anticipating a 30+ crores opening, however, looking at the pace of the advances and the genuine excitement among the moviegoers, the opening of 40+ crores should be a cakewalk. ## Returning to advance booking, "Pathaan" will be aiming to challenge "War" opening day advance booking numbers (32+ crores). Considering that and other aspects, the aforementioned opening day prediction can be termed conservative and final numbers might be in the 45-50 crores range. The movie stands a chance to emerge as the biggest non-holiday opener in Hindi. ## "Pathaan", also starring John Abraham and Deepika Padukone is a Wednesday-day release so the next day, January 26 could see higher numbers due to the Republic Day holiday, and if it gets favorable reviews, the 5-day opening weekend might be in the range of 200 crores net. ## Stay tuned...
