Latest revision as of 15:46, 17 February 2018

India was the 12th biggest market outside the USA for ‘Jurassic World,’ the world’s biggest hit film of 2015; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, January 15, 2016

The 10 biggest Hollywood hits in India vis-à-vis The 10 biggest Hollywood hits in India worldwide
Only 1.3% of Jurassic World’s earnings came from India. The Times of India

[edit] The greatest Hollywood hits in history

[edit] History

English and other foreign films do well in India only when they cross over from the tiny English speaking audience to those who are not comfortable with the English language. Before the age of dubbing this meant films that relied less on words and more on visuals—or had an India connection (The Jungle Book, Life of Pi).

Enter the dragon (1976) was a huge crossover hit and created new box office records in India. Its posters read ‘Is film ko samajhne ke liye Angrezi jaan-na zuroori nahin hai’ (You don’t need to know English to understand this film). Later, adult Malayalam films were sold in North India with the same assurance.

Blow Hot, Blow Cold (1969. Italian, directed by Florestano Vancini) was released in India in 1970, not just in English-speaking areas but at theatres that normally screened Indian films, in downtowns and small towns where people did not speak English. It earned as much as a moderately successful Indian film would in those days, partly because of some sexual content.

Helen of Troy (1956/ Directed by‎: ‎Robert Wise) was a mega-budget WarnerColor epic film in CinemaScope. It was successful with non-English audiences because of the spectacle, splashed in colour on CinemaScope widescreens, which were a rarity in those days.

Readers are invited to add to this historical data through messages sent to the Facebook community, Indpaedia.com. All information used will be gratefully acknowledged in your name.

[edit] 1997-2016 (overview)

Gaurav Dubey |Hollywood movies that took the Indian box office by storm! 23-Apr-2015, Mid Day, WSJ, The Anshul Kumar, Indpaedia’s own records.

The Jungle Book (2016) Rs183.94 crore

[Fast and] Furious 7 (2015) Dir James Wan; Rs 155 crore from nearly 2200 screens across India (Hindi, English, Telugu and Tamil)

‘Jurassic World’(2015) (Rs.103 crore) ($22,212,600, according to The Anshul Kumar)

'Avatar' (2009) Director: James Cameron Rs 145.9 crore

‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ (2015) Director: Joss Whedon $16,695,000, according to The Anshul Kumar / Rs111 crore

Spider-Man 3 (2007) Director: Sam Raimi $16,402,484, , according to The Anshul Kumar/ Rs110 crore

'2012' (2009) Director: Roland Emmerich Rs 94.10 crore

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) Director: Marc Webb $14,547,791

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) Director: Marc Webb $13,606,274

'Life of Pi' (2012) Director: Ang Lee Rs 80.30 crore

'Titanic' (1997) Director: James Cameron Rs 76.80 crore

'The Avengers' (2012) Director: Joss Whedon Rs 76.00 crore

'Iron Man 3' (2013) Director: Shane Black Rs 75.00 crore

‘Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation’ (2015) (Rs.69 crore)

[edit] 2013 onwards: big jump in earnings

The statistics are from:

i) Shilpa Jamkhandikar (writer)/ Tony Tharakan (ed.), Reuters, who have cited KPMG for the 2013 and 2014 figures.

ii) In 2015, Hollywood gave Indian films a run for their money <> Dec 20, 2015 <> IANS

Between 2013 and 2014 there was a 31% jump, aided by franchises like “Transformers” and “Iron Man“

Hollywood/ US films’ earnings in India since 2013 have been:

2013: Rs320 crore ($50 million)

2014: Rs420 crore ($65.6 million)

[edit] 2015

By the end of 2015, he box office collections in India of just the top five Hollywood titles stood at over a staggering Rs.500 crore ($75 million).

"Both 'Fast and Furious 7' and 'Jurassic World' released in over a thousand screens in India. While most studios were hesitant to explore the regional market, Universal Pictures showed the way forward by releasing these films in Tamil and Telugu,"

Three of the five highest earning films screened in India in the first half of 2015 were from the USA. This is unusual for a country that has traditionally preferred its own blockbusters. The 21st century trend of dubbing big-budget US films into Indian languages is a major reason for this change.

‘Fast and Furious 7’ (Rs.155 crore)

‘Jurassic World’ (Rs.103 crore)

‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ (Rs.78 crore)

‘Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation’ (Rs.69 crore)

"One of the reasons 'Spectre' didn't do so well in India because it had released worldwide a few weeks ago and by the time it released in the country, piracy had killed its prospects at the ticket window.

[edit] Super Cinema's rankings

[edit] 2016

Derived from Koimoi.com

[edit] 2017

Derived from Koimoi.com