Hollywood strikes back in Indian cinemas, but the real test lies ahead

Mint

2 days ago

Hollywood appears to be staging a comeback in India after two lacklustre years, with recent titles like Superman, Jurassic World: Rebirth, F1: The Movie, and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning seeing robust box office returns. In several cases, they've even outperformed Indian films.
This uptick follows a period of slowdown caused by Hollywood's writers' and actors' strikes and the underperformance of major superhero films, particularly from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Yet, trade experts warn that the revival is mostly limited to urban audiences, and even blockbuster titles are not achieving the pre-pandemic box office highs.
Mission: Impossible earned over ₹110 crore in India since its May release, while Jurassic World has crossed the ₹82 crore mark. The biggest surprise, however, has been Brad Pitt's sports drama F1, which collected over ₹72 crore—despite limited dubbed releases and minimal promotion.
Market share still low
Hollywood's share in Indian theatrical revenues had peaked at ₹1,595 crore in 2019, per media consulting firm Ormax. But the pandemic years took a toll, and box office collections dropped to ₹941 crore in 2024, shrinking its market share from 15% to just 8%.
Footfalls too halved—from 9.8 crore in 2019 to just 3.8 crore last year. Despite recent momentum, Hollywood remains 15–25% below pre-covid levels, analysts say.
Urban pull, rural lag
'While some of the recent films have done well and proven Hollywood box office is still alive in India, business hasn't gone back to where it was pre-covid," said Rahul Puri, managing director of Mukta Arts and Mukta A2 Cinemas.
Puri pointed out that Hollywood films are largely thriving in major cities, particularly through premium formats like IMAX. But audiences in tier-two and three towns haven't returned in similar strength. One major roadblock is inflexible pricing that doesn't cater to smaller town sensitivities.
The real test, Puri said, will come next year with Marvel's Avengers: Doomsday, which promises a convergence of multiple MCU timelines. That film will be a benchmark to determine if Hollywood can truly regain its former dominance in Indian cinemas.
Franchise vs fresh fare
Vishek Chauhan, an independent exhibitor, agreed the recovery isn't complete: While films are flirting with the ₹100 crore mark, business hasn't gone through the roof or hit the same numbers as say, Avengers: Endgame, which crossed ₹370 crore in 2019.
Devang Sampat, managing director of Cinepolis India, noted 2024 lacked major impact.
'2024 was not an impactful year for Hollywood in India. 2025 has started strong with a great balance of non-franchise films such as F1 and Sinners and franchise titles like Mission: Impossible and Superman doing well. However, there is still some way to go for full recovery as we are yet to see a movie in the post pandemic era, which touches the Avengers: Endgame status," said Sampat.
Sustainable efforts through marketing are required to drive customers to experience lesser known genres. Usually, good movies from Hollywood disappear without a trace at the Indian box office due to lack of marketing, he added.
Streaming fatigue
Still, some experts see opportunity in upcoming line-ups and a growing fatigue with home streaming. 'Hollywood films are no longer just competing; many weekends, they're leading the box office conversions", said Bhuvanesh Mendiratta, managing director of Miraj Entertainment Ltd that operates multiplex theatres.
Kamal Gianchandani, CEO of PVR Pictures and chief of strategy at PVR Ltd, echoed that optimism: While in specific months, Hollywood has also outperformed Indian titles, audiences are experiencing a fatigue with streaming content at home which doesn't match theatrical quality.