Maddock Horror Comedy Universe Vs YRF Spyverse: Underdogs Or Stars, Who Rule The Box Office?

Currently, Bollywood is banking big on franchise films. Dinesh Vijan's Maddock Horror Comedy Universe (MHCU) has not only turned out to be a game changer for the production house Maddock Films, all entries in this series have collectively grossed over ₹1500 crore worldwide. However, competing against it at the box office is the superhit YRF Spyverse, which is from the legacy production banner Yash Raj Films and has banked extensively on stars to weave magic at the ticket window and attract footfalls.

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Hits, misses and biggest wins in MHCU

The MHCU began with Stree in 2018. The film, with its horror comedy elements, became one of the biggest hits of the year and a cult classic later on. The universe expanded with Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon starrer Bhediya (2022), which is a creature flick. 

Munjya and Stree 2 followed in 2024 and established MHCU as a sure shot box office draw. Thamma, the franchise's latest offering, is running in cinema halls now. Box office aside, MHCU has been praised for naturally building a universe of movies with crossovers and references. The commercial scaling of the MHCU will reach its peak in the coming years as the slate has as many as 8 upcoming movies, including sequels and new entries.

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The highest grossing MHCU movie so far has been Stree 2, followed by Stree, Thamma, Munjya and Bhediya. Of these, Bhediya and Thamma have not performed as per expectations, while the response to Munjya was unprecedented.

Stree 2: ₹857.15 crore 
Stree: ₹182 crore
Thamma: ₹127.57 crore (still running in cinema halls)
Munjya: ₹125 crore
Bhediya: ₹94.91 crore

All superhits, but one in YRF Spyverse

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 the part of the same universe of movies with Pathaan (2023). The YRF Spyverse have grown in scale and box office, 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 are guaranteed. However, the hit streak was broken with the debacle of War 2.  

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Upcoming films in the franchise include Alpha starring Alia Bhatt, Bobby Deol and Sharvari, Tiger Vs Pathaan and Pathaan 2.

Ek Tha Tiger: ₹320 crore 
Tiger Zinda Hai: ₹558 crore
War: ₹471 crore
Pathaan: ₹1055 crore
Tiger 3: ₹464 crore
War 2: ₹364.35 crore

While Spyverse is cleary ahead of the MHCU at the box office right now, the latter could be in the lead as it has more movies lined up.