JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
Decoding the clash between War 2 and Coolie: What are the key business areas for Rajinikanth, Hrithik Roshan, and NTR film?
The battle field is now open for the fight, and we are rooting for both - Coolie and War 2 - to emerge blockbuster, and win all the love from the audiences. Detailed Report
The countdown for the release of War 2 and Coolie has begun. Touted to be the biggest clash of 2025, a lot has been written and spoken about the arrival of the two films together on the Independence Day 2025 weekend. With 8 days to go for the release, things are heating up as the advance bookings have started to open in the international markets – ranging from the USA to Australia, New Zealand, and GCC. Comparisons are bound to happen as three superstars – Rajinikanth, Hrithik Roshan, and NTR, are battling it out to bring in their audience to the cinema hall on the holiday weekend.
Being a Hindi language film with a big superstar from Telugu, the key markets for the opening day of War 2 will be the North Indian belts, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. In an apple-to-apple comparison, the Hrithik Roshan and NTR Jr. starrer will be taking a big lead over the Rajinikanth and Lokesh Kanagaraj film in Hindi markets and Telugu states on the first day.
Coolie on the other hand, will be running a one-horse race in Tamil Nadu, where the Rajinikanth and Lokesh Kanagaraj starrer could open at record numbers at the box office. The film will score a big win over the Ayan Mukerji directorial in Kerala as well, where it is expected to clock all-time high occupancy. There could be a close fight in Karnataka, but the lead in here too is expected to be with Coolie on the first day.
The dynamics of win in the Indian markets are clear for opening day, and the trajectory for the weekend will be decided by audience word of mouth, with some likelihood of War 2 making up for the loss in Karnataka from the second day. But what has come across as a surprise are the overseas pre-sales, as Coolie has taken the lead over War 2 in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and even UAE.
While NTR was expected to draw in a big Telugu diaspora for the premieres of War 2, the YRF Spy Universe film is acting like a Hindi film with a Hindi superstar joined by a Telugu superstar, rather than a Telugu superstar doing a Pan India film with a Hindi superstar. The same is reflecting in the pre-sales too, which means that with the right content, War 2 could trend better in the long run, much like all the Hindi films. The films of South origin are usually frontloaded on opening day, whereas Hindi films typically rely on strong trends, where first-day business could be as low as 15 percent of the lifetime.
From here, much like all Hindi films, War 2 will be aiming at big surges on Friday and Saturday in the international markets, whereas Coolie could be more frontloaded, before settling in at a certain number in the long run, and with right word of mouth, it could well emerge the #1 Tamil film of all time in the international markets. It’s a fight of equals, where all the heroes will aim to bring in their audience base - Rajinikanth (Tamil & Telugu), Hrithik Roshan (Hindi), and NTR (Telugu) on the big screen, making the film scale new heights for the respective industries. The Tamil diaspora has definitely given a jump start to Coolie, whereas the Hindi and Telugu diaspora is expected to slowly warm up to War 2 in the international markets, as the release nears. Insiders also reveal that Nagarjuna factor coupled with Rajinikanth and Lokesh Kanagaraj’s pull is fueling pre-sales for the Telugu dubbed version in US, which indicates a positive sign for the film as far as Telugu version is concerned.
The battle-field is now open for War, and we are rooting for both the film emerge blockbuster, and win all the love from the audiences.
Latest Articles
