Before Alpha, YRF Spyverse Budget And Box Office Collection Detailed

Production house YRF kicked off the Spyverse in 2012 with director Kabir Khan's Ek Tha Tiger. Over the years, standalone spy movies became part of a larger universe and the franchise is now among the top grossers in Bollywood. With Alpha, the Spyverse is headed in a new direction. It is not only the first female led action movie in the series, but also an "origin story". As anticipation builds for its release, here's a look at the box office performance and the budget of the YRF Spyverse movies so far, and how the stakes are high for Alpha both with regards to its own biz and the future of the franchise.

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YRF Spyverse, which is from the legacy production banner Yash Raj Films, has banked extensively on stars to weave magic at the ticket window and attract footfalls. The first three films in the universe - Ek Tha Tiger (2012), Tiger Zinda Hai (2017) and War (2019) - were released as standalone films. They were established as part of the same universe with Pathaan (2023). The YRF Spyverse have grown in scale and box office with each entry, with Pathaan currently being the highest-grossing movie in the series. With stars like Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone and more as the faces of the Spyverse, box office returns have been encouraging. However, the hit streak was broken with the debacle of War 2, which underperformed grossly and put the franchise makers in a fix.

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Ek Tha Tiger was made on an estimated budget of ₹92 crore and collected ₹320 crore worldwide. The sequel, Tiger Zinda Hai (2017), followed the first installment's mega success. The budget was ₹210 crore and the box office returns were ₹558 crore worldwide. War, released in 2019, was made on a reported budget of ₹205 crore and collected ₹471 crore globally. 

Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika's Pathaan arrived in 2023, in the post pandemic period. The budget was pegged at ₹325 crore and the global collection was ₹1055 crore. Pathaan is the highest grossing Spyverse movie to date.

Tiger 3, in 2023, was made on a huge budget of ₹350 crore and the box office collection was ₹464 crore. The movie was critically panned and the returns were also average. War 2 (2025), the most expensive movie in the Spyverse so far, was made on an astronomical budget of ₹400 crore, but the biz was underwhelmingly low. The Hrithik, Jr NTR and Kiara Advani starrer collected ₹364.35 crore, turning out to be the first flop in the franchise.

For Alpha, the budget is pegged at between ₹100–130 crore. Since the investment is moderately less than the last few Spyverse films, the safety net is there. Alpha is set for July 3 release and stars Alia Bhatt, Sharvari, Bobby Deol and Anil Kapoor in the lead roles. It is directed by Shiv Rawail.