The Business Of Sequels

2016 was not a year for sequels, with the release of ‘Rock On 2’, ‘Tum Bin 2’, ‘Force 2’ and ‘Kahaani 2’ amongst others, neither of them managed to make a mark for themselves at the box office. Their collections as compared to their prequels did not stand a chance as per the collection figures. And in the year 2017, we have already witnessed releases of sequels like ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’ and ‘Jolly LLB 2’ and are yet to see sequels like ‘Judwaa 2’, ‘Fukrey 2’, ‘ABCD 3’ and so on.

‘Rock On’ that released in 2008 managed a collection of Rs 1.5 crore on its opening day in the country and a total collection of Rs 27.46 crore as compared to its sequel that released in 2016, ‘Rock On 2’. This sequel only managed a business of Rs 11.5 crore till its third weekend with an opening business of Rs 2.02 crore on its first day.

‘Kahaani’ (2012) was a huge blockbuster that grossed around Rs 75 crore at the box office but when taking things into comparison, ‘Kahaani 2’ that released last year only managed to gross under Rs 35 crore till its third weekend.

‘Jolly LLB’ which released in the year 2013 recorded a total business of Rs 27.66 crore in 13 days. Its sequel, ‘Jolly LLB 2’ which released in February 2017 raked in a total collection of Rs 114.47 crore, with a business of Rs 1.5 crore in its fourth weekend itself.

Another prequel- sequel example that could be taken into consideration is that of ‘Baahubali: The Beginning’ which crossed Rs 518 crore in India (all languages) but its sequel managed to create box office history with a collection of approx. Rs 1687 crore at the global box office and is still running across theatres even now.

So what does it say about the business of sequels? Some work, some don’t. A lot of them do not manage to live up to the expectations of the audiences but there are always exceptions that create a history of their own.