Diwali comes as dampener for box office; moderate opening for 'Housefull 4'

In the first nine months, 2019 may have beaten the previous year’s record, however, the Diwali weekend has been a dampener as far as box office collections go. The much-awaited Housefull 4, the fourth film of the Housefull franchise, had a moderate opening weekend, along with the other two releases. 

Housefull 4 had a weaker three-day opening weekend compared to some of the other big releases this year. Yash Raj Film’s (YRF) War, which made Rs 96 crore in its opening weekend and released around Dussehra, is still running in theatres. Bharat (released around June) made Rs 95.5 crore in its opening weekend. In fact, the three films that released during the Diwali weekend of 2019 — Rajkumar Rao-starrer Made in China and Taapsee Pannu’s Saand Ki Aankh, along with Akshay Kumar’s Housefull 4 — together raked in Rs 59.7 crore during the weekend. This is lower than Thugs of Hindostan, which collected Rs 123 crore during its opening long weekend (however, it was a 5-day weekend) in 2018. 

Housefull 4 made Rs 19.08 crore on its opening day and until Sunday collected Rs 53.22 crore. Made in China and Saand Ki Aankh made Rs 3.75 crore and Rs 2.8 crore, respectively during the weekend. 

Interestingly, Thugs of Hindostan in 2018 was a flop. It failed to recover its budget of Rs 220 crore from box office collections (it made about Rs 335 crore worldwide). The lifetime collection of Thugs of Hindostan was Rs 151.19 crore. It, however, had made Rs 52.25 crore on its opening day. It had seen a significant drop immediately on its second day. 

This festive season, trade pundits felt that much would hinge on how the three films (Diwali releases) fare during the remaining holiday week.  As for Housefull 4, film trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted, “HouseFull4 is steady on Day 2... Saw gains in some circuits, was down in few... Biz on Mon is pivotal when Diwali holidays begin... Tue-Thu biz is crucial, if it has to post a solid total... Fri Rs 19.08 cr, Sat Rs 18.81 cr. Total: Rs 37.89 cr. Ind  biz. HF4.” 

According to industry estimates, on Monday the film has opened to 40-45 per cent bookings. 

Housefull 4 was expected to have a Rs 20-22 crore opening weekend and a Rs 175-200 run at the box office. Ashish Saksena, chief operating officer (cinemas), BookMyShow, an online ticket booking platform, had told Business Standard before the film’s release, “This year, there are two more releases which has led to a division of screens between multiple films. Having said so, based on current advance booking trends, Housefull 4 is set to hit a Rs 20-22 crore opening and a Rs 175-200 crore run.”

This is worse than Dussehra release War. Made on a budget of Rs 170 crore, War has already made Rs 309.25 crore at the domestic box office.

The first nine months of 2019, however, was great at the box office, beating the year before by a handsome margin in terms of collections. According to industry data, top Hindi and English titles released during January to September have collected Rs 3,860 crore roughly at the domestic box office. This is about 25 per cent more than the box office collections for the same period last year.