Nag Ashwin’s ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ to Cross $100M in Just Two Weeks

The latest Indian blockbuster, Kalki 2898 AD, continues its strong run at the global box office, amassing over $95 million in just ten days. Directed by Nag Ashwin, the multi-lingual film features a stellar cast including Prabhas, Kamal Haasan, Deepika Padukone, Saswata Chatterjee, and Amitabh Bachchan. Released on June 27, the film has already collected $99 million with the $100 million mark well within reach in its first two weeks.

Kalki 2898 AD secured a spot in Comscore’s top five highest-scoring films worldwide for the weekend ending July 7, with collections exceeding $93 million. Additionally, it ranked eighth in the list of highest-scoring films in the US markets, according to Comscore.

The film, which also features Dulquer Salmaan, Mrunal Thakur, Vijay Deverakonda, Brahmanandam, and Anna Ben in crucial roles, was produced on an estimated budget of $70 million. It managed to cross this figure in just the first week, as reported by the producers, Vyjayanthi Movies.

After a record-breaking global opening of more than $20 million, Kalki 2898 AD crossed the $60 million mark in its first extended weekend, having released on a Thursday. It collected $45 million in the Indian market alone over the same period. The film ranked third on Comscore’s list of top-scoring films worldwide, falling behind Hollywood’s Inside Out 2 and Quiet Place: Day One, and grossed $66 million globally within four days. In the UK, the film brought in more than $1 million, while North American collections stood at nearly $850,000 within a week.

On its release day, Thursday, June 27, Kalki 2898 AD grossed $23 million. In the Indian markets, the Hindi version alone made over $3 million, while the combined figure from all languages reached nearly $11 million, making it India’s biggest opener of the year.

Kalki 2898 AD has now topped the list of Indian films with the highest first-weekend collections, surpassing Atlee’s 2023 hit Jawan starring Shah Rukh Khan. Directed by Nag Ashwin, the film also recorded the highest opening day collection for an Indian film this year and the third-highest opening ever. It achieved the biggest first week collections for any Hindi film in 2024 and became the second-biggest grosser for a Prabhas film after Bahubali 2: The Beginning.

Besides Hindi, Kalki 2898 AD was released in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada. Out of the $11 million opening in India, nearly $7 million came from the Telugu version, while the Tamil version brought in slightly more than $3 million.

Ashish Saksena, COO-Cinemas at the Indian ticketing and entertainment platform BookMyShow, mentioned in a press statement that Kalki 2898 AD has “set the stage for a cinematic revolution,” breaking records on BookMyShow with the sale of over 10 million tickets. He emphasized that it has become the highest-grossing film of 2024 on the platform, highlighting the power of excellent storytelling combined with captivating visuals.

Saksena added that the Telugu version of Kalki 2898 AD has contributed the most to the overall collection, with the Hindi version following closely behind. The Tamil and Malayalam versions come next. He pointed out that 42% of the audience opted to watch the film in single-screen theaters, showcasing its widespread appeal across various regions in the country.

Kalki 2898 AD continues its rapid pace at the box office, especially as there was no major Indian release in its second weekend. Neeraj Pandey’s Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha was initially scheduled for release on July 5 but has been postponed to August 2. The only other notable theatrical release on July 5 was Guneet Monga’s critically-acclaimed Kill.

Source: Forbes, Vyjayanthi Movies