Avengers: Age of Ultron has second largest opening for a Hollywood movie in India

Despite initial glitches on first day of its release, the super hero ensemble lived up to its top billing by earning Rs 10.85 cr

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After Fast and Furious 7 (F7)set the tempo for Hollywood movies in India this year, Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron hit the screens in the country on April 24, a week before the US. The movie, second in the Avengers series and 11 th  in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), collected Rs 10.85 crore on its opening day. The first instalment, which released in 2012, collected around Rs 3.5 crore on the first day.

The movie was released in 1,500 to 1,600 screens in the country and was expected to trounce F7’s opening day record of Rs 12 crore in the box office collection. Sources within the distribution and exhibition fraternity said the film’s collections were dealt a blow when the morning shows in some key territories (north and west) saw shows being cancelled and/or delayed due to technical glitches.

Suniel Wadhwa, indepensant distributor and box office analyst, says, “The Avengers sequel garnered the second biggest grosser around 10.75 crore for the opening day, after to Furious 7,  which raked in Rs 12 crore. However, F7 was released on 2,200 DCI and non-DCI compliance screens, whereas Avengers 2 released on 1,500 DCI compliance screens only, this naturally means that the success of The Avengers: Age Of Ultron is going to be measured on the scale of DCI-compliance screens. But early reports indicate that won’t be a big issue. As things stand, it looks like it won’t just meet that challenge — it'll exceed it.”

While Avengers: Age of Ultron is available only in the DCI cinemas in India, F7, which was distributed by Universal Pictures, was released in some e-cinemas as well. This helped the movie get a wider exposure, especially in the tier-two and semi-urban territories.

"This Avengers sequel was the most anticipated English movie of the year and Marvel's Avenger franchise just keeps getting bigger with each movie release here! What's really a big win for us is that our marketing focus was also on the Hindi audience and the movie's got a great response from the Hindi audience and regions. The opening day numbers are phenomenal considering it was a working Friday,” says Amrita Pandey, VP and head of distribution and marketing, Studios, Disney India.

The occupancy for the remaining week also looks strong, with most screens recording up to 90 per cent attendance for shows throughout the day. Additionally, the movie’s average ticket price, especially in the metros, is around 120 per cent higher than Fast and Furious 7. Moreover, Avengers: Age of Ultron didn't have the advantage of a festive weekend that Fast and Furious 7 did.

Highest grossing Hollywood movies in India till date:

1. Fast & Furious 7 – Rs 100 crore (approx.)

2. Avatar - 78 Crore

3. 2012- 67 crore

4. Life of Pi- 67 crore

5. Spiderman 3- 58 crore

6. Avengers- 56 crore

Avengers: Age of Ultron fact sheet:

* Release in India – April 24

* Release in US – May, 1

* Budget - $250 million

* Collection in India on opening day – Rs 10.85 crore (approx.)

* Number of screens on opening – 1,500