Varisu advance booking crosses Rs 10 crore, Thalapathy Vijay film poised for massive Rs 35 crore opening

Thalapathy Vijay is returning to the big screen in the first big release of the year, Varisu. The film is releasing in theatres on January 11 for the Pongal weekend, with its Telugu and Hindi dubbed versions set to release three days later. Given Vijay’s stardom and the festive release, it is no surprise that the film has generated strong advance booking numbers and is looking at a huge opening day.

Varisu is clashing at the box office with Thunivu, which stars Ajith Kumar and is releasing on the same day. The clash has limited the availability of the theatres for both films, which means some of the advance booking and initial numbers won’t be as high as some of the actors’ previous films. But even then, Varisu has managed to register a good response at the ticket window so far.

As per trade tracker Sacnilk, Varisu had earned Rs 9.6 crore in advance booking across India for the first day by Tuesday afternoon. Trade insiders say the number has comfortably gone past Rs 10 crore since. It may not be able to touch the impressive Rs 26-crore advance booking for Vijay’s previous film Beast though. Even then, the film stands to take a good opening.

Industry insiders and trade experts predict the film to earn somewhere between Rs 30-35 crore nett across India on Wednesday, which is a very strong number. Given that Thalapathy Vijay enjoys good popularity overseas, the worldwide gross number may cross Rs 50-60 crore easily. How it continues beyond the first weekend depends a lot on the word of mouth for the film.

The film is expected to edge out Thunivu on opening day given the current trends in terms of national gross. But in Tamil Nadu alone, Thunivu may hold the edge for now. The release of two big ticket films on the same day means business will explode. Trade experts have predicted a Rs 150 crore Pongal weekend in Tamil Nadu between the two films.