Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, Shehzada, Pathaan Bring In 60 Crores+ Over The Weekend

It was a weekend worth more than 60 crores+ for the exhibition sector at a pan-India level if one talks about three major releases that were in play. While Pathaan entered the fourth week in a strong position, Bollywood and Hollywood came up with Shehzada and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania respectively. Between the three films, it was expected that around 100 crores were on the cards, especially since Pathaan has anyways done its job and now it's upon the newer releases to take forward the momentum. However, that didn't quite happen.

Let's talk about Shehzada first. With Kartik Aaryan in there, it was expected that this film too would open in the range of 15 crores and then go on to have a weekend of at least 55-60 crores. These were the expectations at the time the promo was unveiled since it did promise good entertainment, and moreover, Kartik's films have been regularly opening quite well. The expectations were reset to around 10 crores though in the week leading to release since Pathaan was still going strong and then Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was competition too.

However, the first day collections were to the tune of 6.50 crores as audience attention was divided between the three big films in the play. Even though the Rohit Dhawan directed family entertainer does have good fun elements for all age groups and mass as well as class centers, somehow the opening footfalls were not in line with the merits and it remained the same right through the weekend as well. The film certainly deserved a weekend of at least 35-40 crores, if not more, and hence 22 crores* that eventually came in were less than expected.

As for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, it collected what was expected out of it. This isn't one of the major characters from the Marvel superhero universe and while the first installment Ant-Man was a disaster in India, the second installment Ant-Man and the Wasp was a decent runner. Hence, one didn't expect the third installment to go over the roof and open in 8-10 crores range. This is what happened too as 8.25 crores* came on the first day and what made it stand out is the fact that it was the highest collecting film of the day.

The trend remained the same over the weekend as well and yet again, though somewhere around 35-40 crores would have been a more ideal range for the film, the eventual count of 27 crores* was still decent enough for the film. From here, the film would be targeting a lifetime of 45 crores which would be a good improvement for the franchise in India.

As for Pathaan, it is continuing to enjoy its blockbuster streak. Over the weekend gone by it achieved quite a few records for itself after bringing in over 10 crores*. First and foremost, it went past the lifetime total of the Hindi version of Baahubali: The Conclusion. The SS Rajamouli directed film had collected 511 crores and currently Pathaan stands at 516 crores*. That said, this also includes 18 crores from the south versions. In a few days from now, even this shortfall would be covered and the Hindi version as well will go past the Baahubali: The Conclusion (Hindi) score.

Talking about the Hindi version, Shah Rukh Khan will now officially be the founding member of the 500 Crore Club by tomorrow. While he had already achieved this feat early last week when the film had gone past the 500 crores mark, it was with the help of all languages. Now with the Hindi version too quite close at 500 crores (it has collected 497.50 crores), there is yet another major record up the sleeves of everyone associated with Pathaan. This is a huge win not just for Shah Rukh Khan but also director Sidharth Anand, producer Aditya Chopra and co-stars Deepika Padukone and John Abraham.

*Estimates. Final numbers awaited