Thug Life box office day 5: Kamal Haasan's film struggles post-weekend

Business Standard

2 days ago

The high-profile gangster saga, Thug Life, starring Kamal Haasan, was finally released after much anticipation. The movie enjoyed a great opening weekend at the box office after its June 5 theatrical release. Amid mounting criticism and lukewarm audience response, the much-awaited action drama is now facing a steep downfall at the box office.
Under the direction of Mani Ratnam, "Thug Life" stars Kamal Haasan, Silambarasan, Trisha Krishnan, Abhirami, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Joju George, Ashok Selvan, Nasser, among other actors in the big-budget production.
Controversy around Kamal Haasan's remarks on language origins reportedly led to the film not being released in Karnataka. The actor had claimed that Kannada came from Tamil, causing controversy when it debuted in theaters last week.
'Thug Life' box office collection Day 5
The film, which was co-produced by Madras Talkies and Raaj Kamal Films International, is said to have been made on a massive budget of Rs 275–300 crore.
Thug Life only managed to make Rs 4 crore on its opening Monday. It has still not made Rs 50 crore nett at the domestic box office collection after 5 days. From its second day in theaters, the movie with such big names in the cast and technical crew has been earning less than Rs 10 crore nett per day.
"Thug Life" raked in Rs 3.62 crore nett at the Indian box office on Monday, according to tracking website, Sacnilk. Compared to the Sunday collections, this is a significant decline. The multi-starrer film brought in Rs 40.52 crore net in 5 days. Check the breakdown of "Thug Life" in India day-wise:
• Day 1: Rs 15.5 crore
• Day 2: Rs 7.15 crore
• Day 3: Rs 7.75 crore
• Day 4: Rs 6.5 crore
• Day 5: Rs 3.62 crore
'Thug Life' box office 'occupancy'
The Telugu and Hindi versions added Rs 29 lakh and Rs 8 lakh, respectively, while the Tamil version contributed Rs 3.25 crore. The current global box office collection for Thug Life is Rs 75 crore.
Only 18.05 percent of the Tamil market was occupied by Thug Life on Monday. The occupancy rate varied during the day, with afternoon, evening, and night screenings recording 19.53%, 17:00, and 20.57% occupancy, respectively, compared to the morning shows' 14.11% start rate.
Thug Life OTT release: When and where to watch online?
There are also several rumors that 'Thug Life' may debut on OTT considerably earlier than anticipated. Even though Kamal Haasan had said before the film's premiere that there would be an 8-weeks gap between its theatrical and streaming debuts, sources currently suggest that, given the film's poor performance, it would arrive on OTT in as little as 4 weeks.
Trade analysts predict that the movie's OTT debut may be preponed, with Netflix, the official streaming partner, likely streaming it earlier than anticipated, according to M9 News.
The streaming giant shared the update on X (formerly Twitter) and said, 'The Vinveli Naayagan returns—with a bang! Thug Life will arrive on Netflix in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi after its theatrical release!'