Prefer HTon Google

There have been very few times when Indian films have had global releases at the box office and come out victorious. RRR was famously the number one film in the world upon its release, as was Dhurandhar The Revenge. Others, like Jawan and Kalki 2898 AD, also challenged big releases. But never has an Indian film outearned a Tom Cruise-starrer in a direct clash, up until now. Ajay Devgn’s Drishyam The Conclusion has created a sensation at the international box office, ending up as the number 2 film in the world on its opening weekend.

Drishyam 3 box office collection: Ajay Devgn's film is off to a great start.

Drishyam 3 beats Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt films

Drishyam The Conclusion had a magnificent start at the Indian box office, minting ₹62 crore net on a manic opening day. After sustaining that momentum through the weekend, it reached ₹176.50 crore net ( ₹211.80 crore or $22 million gross) in three days. In the US and Canada, it did not have a bumper start, but still did well. According to Comscore and Box Office Mojo, the film earned $2.7 million in North America from just over 500 theatres. The film has been a success outside the US as well. In other international territories (including Europe and the Gulf), it has earned over $3.4 million. As of Sunday, Drishyam The Conclusion has earned $28.4 million ( ₹273 crore) worldwide.

This makes the Ajay Devgn-starrer the second biggest film in the world this weekend. The only film ahead of it is Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson’s erotic thriller, Verity, which earned a staggering $62.6 million worldwide, including $32 million in the US and Canada alone.

But, Drishyam 3 managed to beat Tom Cruise’s Digger, which also released in theatres this weekend. Digger, Tom’s return to director-backed films after a spate of actioners, was met with negative reviews and opened at just $20 million worldwide, well below what Drishyam 3 managed in the same period. The Hindi film beat another star-led Hollywood venture this weekend. Brad Pitt’s Heart of the Beast came in third over the weekend, adding $28 million to its total in its second week. The horror film Resident Evil rounded up the top 5 with a weekend global haul of around $24.5 million.

• 

  Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.Read More