'Avengers: Endgame' set to become biggest Hollywood opener in India

Final part of the Avengers series could collect over Rs 50 crore on opening day

Avengers: Endgame has set the box office on fire even before its scheduled release on Friday. The 22nd film in the ambitious Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise by Disney has generated frenetic interest from movie lovers, and is set to become the biggest-ever Hollywood opener in the country. Experts are pegging the first-day collection at over Rs 50 crore given high demand and the robust distribution by the studio. 

The record for the highest opening-day collection for a Hollywood film in India is currently held by the series’ 2018 film, Avengers: Infinity War, which grossed Rs 40 crore (Rs 31 crore net after tax). 

Endgame is being released in 2,500 screens in the country in four languages – Hindi, English, Tamil, and Telugu — the widest release for a Hollywood film. Due to the format in which Hollywood films are available for release, only 2,500 screens are available to these films in India. 

Infinity War was released in 2,000 screens, with 10,000 shows per day in the same four languages. The Indian language dubs contributed about 50 per cent to its lifetime box office collection of Rs 232 crore. In the case of Endgame, distribution has been ramped up to accommodate 13,000 shows in a day for the first weekend, across multiplexes and single screens in 500 cities.

With Endgame, India will also see exhibitors running shows of a Hollywood film 24x7 for the first time. The earliest show for the movie is at 3.20 am (at a theatre in Mumbai), and the last show is at 11.55 pm (various locations across India). 

Given that the film is 3 hours and 1 minute long without an interval, each show will take about four hours. Normal show timings would mean each screen would have been able to run at most four shows a day. The all-day programming at certain centres will allow for more shows per screen per day.

Bookings for the movie opened on Saturday midnight, and tickets were lapped up almost instantly. Online ticketing portal BookMyShow sold a million tickets for the movie in little over a day, and has sold more than 2 million tickets so far. 

Ashish Saksena, COO — Cinemas, BookMyShow, said, “With just a few days left for Avengers: Endgame to hit the screens, the excitement around it is palpable. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has a massive fan following across the world and over the years, has emerged as one of the most followed movie franchises in India as well. The concluding part in the franchise is creating waves on BookMyShow before its release, and we expect the film to break more records as cinemas continue to open the advance bookings.”

While there is no data available from Paytm, another online ticketing portal estimates robust sales since the movie is sold out in most prime multiplexes and single screens.

Multiplex chain Inox said Endgame shows at its centres were sold out within 24 hours of bookings opening. The exhibitor first opened bookings for English shows, followed by Hindi shows, and will be opening bookings for Tamil and Telugu shows next.

"As anticipated, across the country, the shows of Avengers: Endgame are sold out in a very short time. The first day advance sales have been unprecedented. We are also anticipating an equally massive response to the advance sales of the Hindi and regional language bookings. We are looking forward to welcoming guests in record numbers on the opening day," said Rajender Singh Jyala, chief programming officer, INOX.

Endgame is the concluding feature in the MCU, which brings together all the superheroes introduced by the franchise since 2008, including Ironman, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow, Captain Marvel, and Hulk, among others.