Leo Box Office Collections: The Vijay Film Said To Take The Biggest Global Opening Of The Year

Lokesh Kanagaraj and Thalapathy Vijay’s Leo has had a few spanners in the works as far as its release and collections have been concerned. The film’s special permission for early morning shows was revoked in Tamil Nadu, and couldn’t be released in multiplexes in the North due to the 8-week OTT rule by the Multiplex Association of India. Despite these complications, the film reportedly made Rs 148.5 crores at its opening day box office, which is said to be the biggest opening day collections for any Indian film this year. “To reach Rs 148 crores without morning shows in Tamil Nadu is phenomenal,” said entertainment industry tracker Sreedhar Pillai. 

The Anirudh Ravichander musical has crossed 3 million USD in two days in the US, Pillai says, adding that the UK numbers too have been terrific. “I expect the film to easily cross to Rs 200 crore by the end of the Holiday weekend. But the film does carry mixed reviews, so that will have an effect on the upcoming box office collections.” 

Closer home, however, Leo raked in Rs 26 crores at the Tamil Nadu box office according to Box Office India, and made a total of Rs 62 crores in India. Pillai attributes the TN numbers to the lack of early morning shows. “The collections in TN are good, but a lesser number of shows means that the collections aren’t as good as Jailer or Varisu. Even with a 95 per cent occupancy on Day 1, it cannot match the collections of a 4am or a 7am show.” Pillai hopes for a flexible film policy in Tamil Nadu. “The government has a strange rule of having only 4 shows on working days and 5 shows during the weekends. You have to have a 24-hour slot for films at least initially. Look at Kerala and Karnataka, where films are allowed to have many show timings and flexi ticket pricing. I don’t understand the idea of having controlled ticket pricing.”

The multiplex rule has further made a dent in the film’s North collections, he adds. “The film would’ve crossed Rs 155 crores otherwise. It was released only in single screens in the North. All Tamil films that have digital OTT rights to stream less than 56 days, will not be released in multiplexes. The Tamil biggies are all being sold for a 30-day window.” The rule, which was initially imposed only for Hindi films, has now been extended to Tamil and Telugu films too. “Films like Tiger Nageswara Rao have a 56-day window and hence got released in the north. There is no point in saying you’re pan-India if you have a 30-day OTT window.”