Nag Ashwin's 'Kalki 2898 AD' had a remarkable debut at the box office on Thursday. The dystopian sci-fi film, featuring Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, and Kamal Haasan, leveraged Prabhas' star power and strong word-of-mouth to gross over Rs 100 crore in India on its first day. The film made history by achieving the third-biggest opening in Indian cinema.
According to industry tracker Sacnilk, 'Kalki 2898 AD' earned approximately Rs 95 crore net in India on its opening day across all languages, with a gross collection estimated around Rs 118 crore. Globally, the mytho-sci-fi thriller amassed over Rs 180 crore on its first day. This staggering collection broke the global opening records of films like 'KGF 2' (Rs 159 crore), 'Salaa' (Rs 158 crore), 'Leo' (Rs 142.75 crore), 'Saaho' (Rs 130 crore), and 'Jawan' (Rs 129 crore).
However, 'RRR' remains the highest Indian opener, with receipts worth Rs 223 crore, followed by 'Baahubali 2,' which earned over Rs 217 crore on its opening day. Despite high expectations, 'Kalki 2898 AD'' did not surpass the Rs 200 crore mark on its opening day, falling short by a narrow margin and securing the third position among Indian cinema's biggest openers.
With an extended four-day weekend ahead, the Nag Ashwin directorial has the potential to surpass the weekend collections of Rajamouli's 'RRR'' and 'Baahubali 2.' Trade analysts predict a Rs 600-crore weekend for the magnum opus and a lifetime gross exceeding Rs 1000 crore. 'Kalki 2898 AD' had a worldwide release on June 27 and sold over 20 lakh tickets in advance across all languages.
