Talking beasts and caped heroes: Avengers, Lion King perfect the mass pitch

Disney rides the superhero franchise two years in a row while Hollywood accounts for a quarter of 2019 domestic box office collections

It has been the year for talking lions and caped heroes, for American studios, at the Indian box office. Aided by the growing fan base for superhero franchises and the ageless appeal of The Lion King, Hollywood movies have drawn a vast number of people to the cinemas in 2019, even as the multilingual formula for Indian releases has helped studios expand their influence beyond premium, urban pockets. 

For the period between January and October, the Hollywood score at the Indian box office is Rs 1,083.2 crore, which is 24 per cent of the total collections during the period. Hindi