First Avatar 3, Now Project Hail Mary: Dhurandhar 2 Spares None, Not Even Hollywood Biggies

Dhurandhar: The Revenge released on March 19 amid sky high expectations. In under a week of its release, the Ranveer Singh starrer has grossed nearly ₹1000 crore worldwide, and this is just the beginning. Last year, Dhurandhar brew up a storm amid highly positive reviews and wiped out any other competition in its way. This also included the Hollywood biggie, Avatar: Fire And Ash.

The Dhurandhar sequel's release on the Eid weekend led to the delay of several movies, including Ram Charan's Peddi, Yash's Toxic, Dhamaal 4 and Adivi Sesh's Dacoit. Ryan Gosling's Project Hail Mary, which was supposed to arrive in India on March 20 alongside its global theatrical debut, pushed its release to March 26 due to Dhurandhar 2.

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Despite getting positive reviews after its global debut and showing strong pull at the international box office, its India release is facing screen sharing issues due to Dhurandhar 2. The exhibitors are unwilling to reduce showcasing of Dhurandhar 2 in order to accommodate another film.

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Advance booking of Project Hail Mary has been met with good response in India. As per Bollywood Hungama, the space opera has sold over 25,000 tickets here. However, its IMAX advances have not opened yet. A trade source in the matter told the website, "In all probability, Project Hail Mary will share shows with Dhurandhar 2 in the IMAX screens.” A smaller showcasing alongside a big, trending Bollywood movie is sure to affect Project Hail Mary commercially in India, despite it doing record breaking business in several overseas territories.

The movie is directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. About Project Hail Mary's initial postponement in India, Miller said, “We’ve got a sequel to a very popular Bollywood film coming out on that date; I heard about it. And I am happy.” Lord added, “(That’s) good for the health of the global movie business and for Bollywood. There are great local productions, for sure.”