As Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick, which was released last week, hits the $16 million mark in India, theatre owners say Hollywood is bringing in big money, even from non-superhero flicks. While the tendency existed before to the epidemic, it has grown in strength as fans have discovered additional films from around the world on streaming platforms, according to film trade analysts. Furthermore, revenue-sharing agreements with Hollywood studios are more favorable to theatres, leading in increased revenue.
There is a rising market for American cinema, which caters mostly to adult audiences in metropolitan regions and larger cities, which should aid forthcoming smaller or niche films like Elvis and the DC League of Super-Pets. Tenet grossed 12.57 crore in India when it was released soon after the reopening of theatres in 2020.
“Post-covid, Hollywood has become a bigger brand in India. “While the big-budget tentpoles are performing better than predicted, even the lesser films are doing quite well,” said Kamal Gianchandani, PVR Pictures Ltd’s chief executive officer. He went on to say that Top Gun mostly attracted to an older demographic and wasn’t as family-friendly as Spider-Man: No Way Home, the most recent Hollywood movie, which debuted in December and grossed over Rs 218 crore in India. Furthermore, the Tom Cruise picture was only dubbed in Hindi, not in any of the four southern languages, which are significant cinema markets.
Even a picture like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which is darker than many Marvel superhero films and aimed at a more adult audience, has grossed over 125 crores. “That would have been unthinkable five or six years ago, and nobody would have predicted that these films would be that popular,” said Rajendar Singh Jyala, chief programming officer of INOX Leisure Ltd.
The outstanding success of Top Gun, according to independent trade analyst Sreedhar Pillai, demonstrates that moviegoers are aware of social media trends and are alert when word-of-mouth about a film is favourable. “Plus, screening Hollywood films benefits theatre owners since revenue sharing conditions with American studios are better than those with local creators,” Pillai added, noting that Top Gun is doing well in large-screen formats like as IMAX.
