Bhooth Bangla box office prediction: Akshay Kumar’s horror comedy eyes Rs 10 cr+ opening as Dhurandhar 2 storm finally settles

Now, Bhooth Bangla has reserved over 4,000 screens and counting. As per Sacnilk, it’s already sold over 35,000 tickets in the pre-sales for its opening day alone. This excludes the paid previews, which will start today evening. As of now, the horror comedy has earned over Rs 94 lakh from its day 1 pre-sales. When combined with block booking, this figure goes up to Rs 2.58 crore.

“Don’t compare Bhooth Bangla with Dhurandhar 2. They’re completely different films and genres. Dhurandhar is set in a particular era and in Pakistan. It’s a thriller, Bhooth Bangla is a horror comedy. Of course, Bhooth Bangla should also open well, but you can’t compare both. The bar has been set high after Dhurandhar, but mostly in the thriller and spy universe space,” leading film trade analyst Taran Adarsh tells SCREEN.

With more shows being added today, and ticket sales likely to pick up after paid previews, Bhooth Bangla is expected to clock in an opening day figure of Rs 10 crore to Rs 12 crore at the domestic box office. This would be more than the opening day collection of Akshay Kumar and Priyadarshan’s last outing, Khatta Meetha, which scored over Rs 7 crore on Day 1.

However, if compared to Akshay’s last release, the estimated opening day collection of Bhooth Bangla is lower than that of Subhash Kapoor’s courtroom comedy from last year, Jolly LLB 3, which scored Rs 15 crore on Day 1. However, unlike the threequel, Bhooth Bangla is a standalone IP instead of being an installment of a successful franchise like Jolly LLB.

Similarly, unlike Dhurandhar 2, which enjoyed massive pre-release buzz owing to the record-breaking success of the first part, which released only three months before the sequel, Bhooth Bangla hasn’t managed to sell as many tickets via its paid previews. Dhurandhar 2 earned over Rs 40 crore through paid previews. “Dhurandhar 2 had an entirely different level of craze. Part 1 had released months before, so people were excited to see part 2. Paid previews aren’t a new thing, but they should be reserved for the more eagerly awaited movies,” adds Adarsh.

Also Read – Bhooth Bangla Movie Review LIVE Updates: Early reviews are in; Akshay Kumar film called ‘a well-crafted entertainer’

Bhooth Bangla also stars Wamiqa Gabbi, Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav, Jisshu Sengupta, Tabu, and Mithila Palkar, among others. It will also mark late actor Asrani’s second-last film. His final swansong is also a Priyadarshan-Akshay Kumar film — Haiwaan — a crime thriller also starring Saif Ali Khan.