The Hollywood movie Michael did well at the Indian box office, earning about Rs. 6 crore (USD 650K). This includes the approximately Rs. 1.60 crore from Thursday’s previews. Since no Hollywood musical biopic has performed successfully in India up to this point, the opening is a little unexpected. The 2018 international hit Bohemian Rhapsody only made Rs. 7 crore in India. On the first day, Michael had nearly equaled it.
Nearly two-thirds of the movie’s opening day box office revenue came from the three South Indian circuits, indicating a significant overindexing in the region. Kerala in Tamil Nadu was the largest, followed by the Telugu states and Karnataka. The Mumbai-Pune belt performed well among the Hindi circuits, but other locations performed poorly. This is because indigenous music dominated the market and English music, which was mostly a niche urban Indian phenomenon, was not as popular in the Hindi belt. Michael Jackson was likely more well-known in India for his dancing, and dance movies have historically performed better in Mumbai and South India than in the North.
More than half of the movie’s opening day revenue came from advance reservations, indicating that it was heavily pre-sale oriented. There will be some growth, but not much, according to the advances for Saturday. Business may decline on Sunday since metro systems typically relax on Sundays. Rs. 17 crore (USD 1.75 million) is anticipated for the weekend. The movie’s potential trajectory for its entire run will depend on how it performs on Monday. Michael has made significant global inroads.
According to reports, it made over USD 40 million on its first day in North America and is expected to make USD 90 million over its first weekend. Up until Thursday, the overseas company was worth USD 32 million; this weekend, it should be worth at least USD 100 million, possibly even closer to USD 125 million. The global weekend will be more than $200 million, with a long-term goal of $1 billion.
