With
Baahubali 2: The Conclusion releasing in less than 12 hours, movie enthusiasts are going bonkers over the franchise’s final chapter.
More than 3 million tickets have already been sold out across the country and overseas in advance bookings. If you plan to catch the movie after reading this article, good luck with that, because there’s no chance you are getting a weekend ticket for the movie. The last Indians were this excited, India was facing Sri Lanka in the 2011 World Cup final.
Theatres have already showcased ‘Sold Out’ signs outside their box-office counters. This feels like a celebration, this feels like Baahubali.
The excitement is worthy as it has been two long years since we witnessed the royal family of Mahishmati.
Baahubali: The Conclusion has been described as an ‘actual meal’ after the ‘starter’ Baahubali: The Beginning by director SS Rajamouli. The unprecedented advance booking reports coming from all corners of the country suggests that a box-office history is set to be created tomorrow.
Advance bookings opened on Tuesday across single-screen theatres and multiplexes worldwide. The long ques at box-office counters in single-screen theatres show a clear picture of tomorrow’s frenzy.
BookMyShow, an online ticketing platform, has already sold more than 2 million tickets of Baahubali, one million of which came in the first 24 hours of the commencement of pre-bookings. The previous advance booking record was held by Aamir Khan’s Dangal.
The scene in southern part of India is moonstruck, as theatre owners are charging extra for the tickets. Widespread black marketing of Baahubali tickets have been reported across cities.
Looking at the international market, Baahubali’s advance bookings have crossed $3 million already. According to Great India Films, the US distributors of Baahubali, the excitement is soaring and they are witnessing an advance booking of $100,000 per hour. The US theatre rights were sold for Rs 44 crore and Baahubali has already made Rs 19 crore through advance bookings. The exhibitors are certainly expecting a fortune out of the franchise. The Middle East, another important market for the film, has seen an advance booking of more than 70 per cent.
With Baahubali releasing in more than 8,000 screens worldwide, Rs 150-crore opening on Day 1 is expected. The Tamil and Telugu versions will undoubtedly shatter records and set the box-office blazing, but if the Hindi version does the trick and open as per the expectations, there will be no stopping Baahubali.
According to the estimates, Baahubali 2 will collect over Rs 70 crore in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and other southern states; overseas will rake in over Rs 40 crore and the Hindi version, which will be played in rest of India, has the potential for a Rs 30 crore opening, making Baahubali the biggest opener ever in history.
Brace yourself for the power of Mahishmati and get ready to know why Katappa actually killed Baahubali!
