The GOAT Box Office: Thalaapathy Vijay Delivers Bumper Opening
Thalaapathy Vijay has once again proven his true stardom with the release of The GOAT. The film secured a bumper opening on its first day at the box office. Unlike many Bollywood superstar films that release on festive occasions like Eid, Diwali, or Christmas, The GOAT premiered on a normal day. Despite this, its first-day collection reportedly surpassed the weekly earnings of many Bollywood superstar films.
The GOAT’s Worldwide Release and Screen Count
The GOAT is primarily a Tamil film but has been released in five languages globally, including other South Indian languages and a Hindi dub. While the film had no promotion in the Hindi market and was released on only 1000 screens there, it received a strong response in North India. Globally, The GOAT was released on over 5000 screens. In its main market, Tamil Nadu, shows began as early as 4 AM and were completely houseful.
The GOAT: Budget and Pre-Release Business
The cost of production for The GOAT was ₹250 crore, with an additional ₹25 crore spent on promotion and marketing. Thalaapathy Vijay’s fees were ₹200 crore, bringing the total budget for the film to ₹375 crore.
Before its release, The GOAT generated significant revenue through its pre-release business. The digital rights for all five languages were sold for ₹200 crore. Satellite rights fetched ₹85 crore, and music rights brought in ₹25 crore. Theatrical rights contributed further, with Tamil Nadu selling for ₹76 crore, Karnataka for ₹13 crore, Kerala for ₹16 crore, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for ₹15 crore, North India for ₹15.25 crore, and overseas markets for ₹60 crore. This totals a worldwide theatrical rights sale of ₹205 crore. In all, the film’s pre-release business exceeded ₹435 crore, meaning producers were already ₹60 crore in profit before the film’s theatrical release.
The GOAT’s First Day Box Office Collection
The GOAT opened impressively across India and overseas on its first day:
- Tamil Nadu Gross Collection: ₹35 crore. Morning shows saw 90-95% occupancy, with excellent bookings for afternoon, evening, and night shows.
- Karnataka Gross Collection: ₹11 crore. The film primarily released in Tamil here, with the Tamil version receiving the best response.
- Kerala Gross Collection: ₹8 crore. Morning shows were houseful, indicating a stronger opening than many major Malayalam films.
- Telugu States (Andhra Pradesh & Telangana) Gross Collection: Approximately ₹10 crore, despite many cinemas being closed due to rain and floods.
- North India Gross Collection (Tamil, Telugu, Hindi): Approximately ₹4 crore. This includes the Hindi version on 1000 screens and Tamil/Telugu versions on 200-300 multiplex screens.
The total first-day All India Gross Collection for The GOAT across all languages stands at ₹68 crore.
For the overseas market, The GOAT premiered a day earlier and saw record-breaking collections. On its official worldwide release day, the film continued to receive a strong response. The first-day Overseas Gross Collection for The GOAT is ₹52 crore.
Combining these figures, The GOAT‘s First Day Worldwide Box Office Collection totals ₹120 crore. This collection was achieved despite the film not releasing on any major festival.
Comparing The GOAT’s Opening with Leo
Thalaapathy Vijay’s previous film, Leo, had a first-day collection of approximately ₹150 crore. This higher opening for Leo was attributed to factors like the LCU (Lokesh Cinematic Universe) factor, a superhit music album, and intense pre-release hype. In contrast, The GOAT‘s current box office performance is credited entirely to Thalaapathy Vijay’s star power.
Stree 2: Box Office Performance and Milestones
The horror-comedy film Stree 2, released on August 15th, has completed 22 days in cinemas. With a budget of only ₹80 crore, the film’s collection has surpassed the lifetime box office collection of films made on a ₹375 crore budget in just 22 days.
Stree 2: India Net and Gross Collections
Stree 2‘s India net collection has grown significantly:
- First 20 Days All India Net Collection: ₹515.50 crore, thereby crossing the Hindi net collection of Baahubali 2.
- 21st Day Collection: ₹5.50 crore.
- 22nd Day Collection (Reported): ₹4.10 crore. Although The GOAT‘s release led to a slight reduction in screens for Stree 2, the film maintained good occupancy.
With these figures, the total All India Net Collection for Stree 2 over its first 22 days has reached ₹525.65 crore. This collection has allowed Stree 2 to surpass the lifetime box office collections of Pathaan (Hindi net collection of over ₹524 crore) and Gadar 2 (India net collection of ₹525.50 crore). Stree 2 now holds the record for the second-highest India net collection in the Hindi market.
In terms of gross collections, Stree 2‘s All India Gross Collection stands at ₹620.26 crore, and its Worldwide Gross Collection is ₹743.50 crore. The film is currently nearing the ₹750 crore mark worldwide and is projected to cross ₹800 crore globally by Sunday, within the next three days.
Stree 2’s Path to New Records
Stree 2 continues to perform well, especially as The GOAT was released on only 1000 screens in the Hindi market and no other new major films have been released this week. This provides Stree 2 with a substantial number of screens in its fourth week. The film is now positioned to potentially break the all-India net lifetime collection record held by Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan, aiming to become the highest India net collection film in Hindi cinema.