Wonder Woman 1984 defies curbs, curfews

Despite new restrictions and renewed night curfew imposed in many cities, Wonder Woman 1984 has had a great opening in movie theatres in India.

According to trade website Box Office India, the DC superhero sequel featuring Gal Gadot collected ₹2.25 crore on Friday. If one includes the paid preview shows on Wednesday and Thursday, when the likes of actor Hrithik Roshan watched the movie in a theatre, it has managed to gross ₹4.50 crore in just three days.

“The collections are the highest seen on any day since the reopening of cinemas, easily beating the numbers of Tenet,” the trade site said.

The John David Washington and Robert Pattinson-starrer Tenet had made ₹1.2 crore on day one, after which it collected ₹1.4 crore and ₹1.6 crore on the following Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

According to market experts, the box-office collection for WW84 could reach double-digit levels in the first week. “Although the initial numbers are still not as good as pre-pandemic times, the response is encouraging for the movie industry which has been struggling under the lockdown,” said a market analyst.

Curfew impact

The opening day collections could have been better had it not been for the new curfew rules imposed in some States. Maharashtra imposed night curfew from December 22 to January 5 and Karnataka announced night curfew on December 22 but withdrew its decision on December 24. Punjab also ordered an extension of the night curfew imposed in all cities and towns till January 1, 2021. Globally, the Gal Gadot starrer collected ₹283 crore in its opening weekend

Movie theatres in India were allowed to open on October 15 but there have been no big local releases yet. However, the response to WW84 could set the pace for big-budget Bollywood movies now. Films like Amitabh Bachchan’s Chehre and Saif Ali Khan’s Bunty Aur Babli 2 are likely to hit theatres early next year and big films like Sooryavanshi and 83 are expected to release towards the end of March in 2021.