Ramayana advance booking: Ranbir Kapoor eyeing his biggest box office opener, sells 2.62 lakh tickets

Ramayana advance booking: Nitesh Tiwari’s adaptation of the Indian epic Ramayana, slated to release in cinemas worldwide on November 5, may turn out to be the biggest global opening for its lead actor Ranbir Kapoor. If the current pace of advance booking and the buzz around its world premiere at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, California, are anything to go by, the film may very well be on its way to amass over Rs 80 crore net at the domestic box office, and over Rs 147 crore worldwide.

Ever since the advance booking of Ramayana started a week ago on the occasion of Dussehra, the film has been consistently picking up pace at the box office. As of 8 am on Wednesday, the movie has sold 2.62 lakh tickets across 6126 screens in India to collect Rs 11.35 crore already. Combined with block booking, the advance booking earnings domestically stand at Rs 14.07 crore.

The majority of the bookings stem from the native Hindi version of Ramayana, at 86% and Rs 12.15 crore. It’s followed by the dubbed Kannada version, at 10% and Rs 1.48 crore, given the presence of Yash as the chief antagonist, Ravana. The dubbed Telugu version has contributed only 3% at Rs 44.39 lakh, as per Sacnilk, despite Sai Pallavi playing the leading lady, Sita.

As per current trade estimates, Ramayana could score an opening day in the range of Rs 60 crore to Rs 80 crore at the domestic box office. It’s also gaining considerable traction worldwide, having already surpassed $2 million (Rs 19.03 crore) overseas, with its release nine days away. North America has contributed the most to that figure, collecting over $750,000 (Rs 7.14 crore), including $550,000 (Rs 5.23 crore) from just the paid preview shows.

Current trade projections claim Ramayana could amass as much as $7 million (Rs 66.61 crore) overseas on its opening day. Combined with the domestic box office opening day predictions, the film could amass over Rs 147 crore worldwide on November 5 itself, including paid previews. Back home, it’s now the only theatrical release on that day, just three days ahead of Diwali on Sunday, November 8.

The makers of Takashi Yamazaki’s monster epic Godzilla Minus Zero have now moved its India release date by a couple of weeks to November 20. It was initially slated to release in cinemas across India on November 6, just a day after Ramayana, but given the current trajectory of the latter at the advance booking window, it’ll now be the sole theatrical release in India next week.

Ramayana likely to become Ranbir Kapoor’s biggest opening

When Ranbir Kapoor was cast as Rama, many doubted the choice, given the actor had played a convincing toxic alpha male in just his last release, Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s 2023 blockbuster family crime drama Animal. However, if trade estimates are to go by, Ramayana may very well topple Animal to score the biggest opening for Ranbir ever, both in India and at the worldwide box office.

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Back when it released in cinemas on December 1, 2023, Animal opened at Rs 76.10 crore net and Rs 54.75 crore gross at the domestic box office. After adding another Rs 39.90 from overseas, its worldwide earnings on the release day stood at Rs 116 crore. When compared to Ramayana’s trade estimates, the latter could easily surpass these milestones even with its lower limit of Rs 60 crore net in India and Rs 120 crore globally respectively.

Also, unlike Animal, which was ‘A’-rated, Ramayana has a ‘U’ certificate, thus opening it up for family audiences. Additionally, Ramayana will also enjoy an extended festival weekend, unlike Animal, which released on a Friday, with no festival in sight. However, Vanga’s film had an advantage over Ramayana in the form of ticket prices.

The average ticket price of Animal was Rs 252, whereas that of Ramayana is Rs 559. Despite the average ticket price being more than double than that of Animal, Ramayana has already sold 2.62 lakh tickets nine days before release, with premium formats like IMAX 3D contributing a great deal to the total count. That’s also the reason why the average ticket price is so high.

Also starring Sunny Deol as Hanuman, Ravi Dubey as Lakshman, Rakul Preet Singh as Shurpanakha, Kajal Aggarwal as Mandodari, Shobana as Kaikesi, Vivek Oberoi as Vidyuthjiva, Arun Govil as Dasharatha, Lara Dutta as Kaikeyi, Sheeba Chaddha as Manthara, Anupam Kher as Jatayu, and Kunal Kapoor as Indra, Ramayana has score and music by Oscar-winning composers AR Rahman and Hans Zimmer.

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Co-produced by Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations, Ramayana is being distributed internationally by Sony Pictures International and in the Hindi market in India by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions. It’s co-written by director Nitesh Tiwari and Sridhar Raghavan.