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Stree 2 box office collections: Brakes 11 years running previews record of Shah Rukh Khan's Chennai Express
Stree 2 previews drew an excellent response, with early estimates putting the gross at over Rs. 10 crore (Rs. 8.25 crore nett). That number can exceed Rs. 10 crore tomorrow when the actuals arrive.
Stree 2 kicked off its box office journey with paid preview shows starting at 9:30 PM today. Playing close to 3000 shows, the previews drew an excellent response, with early estimates putting the gross at close to Rs. 10 crore (Rs. 8.25 crore nett). That number can exceed Rs. 10 crore tomorrow when the actuals arrive. The horror comedy sequel has put brakes on the eleven-year long-running record of Shah Rukh Khan starrer Chennai Express, which grossed Rs. 8.70 crore (Rs. 6.50 crore nett) in 2013.
Chennai Express was able to hold the record for more than ten years mostly from the lack of trying of others as no major film held previews shows until now. Previews on a holiday eve, like Stree 2 and Chennai Express, could be a good business but it never really caught on in Bollywood. The list of biggest previews in India mostly features films from Hollywood which occasionally holds previews.
One rationale against previews could be that they can hurt the chances of opening day record as trade in Bollywood reports them separately unlike in most other places where previews are rolled in opening day. However, a more serious rationale is probably the fear of bad reception from previews that could negatively impact first-day numbers. Whatever it was, Chennai Express enjoyed bragging rights for the preview record for over ten years — a title that now belongs to Stree 2.
The top ten highest previews at the Indian box office are as follows:
| Rank | Title | Year | Gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stree 2 | 2024 | Rs. 10.00 cr. |
| 2 | Chennai Express | 2013 | Rs. 8.70 cr. |
| 3 | Fate of the Furious | 2017 | Rs. 8.50 cr. |
| 4 | Padmaavat | 2018 | Rs. 5.75 cr. |
| 4 | Hanu Man | 2024 | Rs. 5.75 cr. |
| 6 | Batman v Superman | 2016 | Rs. 5.25 cr. |
| 7 | Jurassic World: Dominion | 2022 | Rs. 4.20 cr. |
| 8 | 3 Idiots | 2009 | Rs. 3.70 cr. |
| 9 | Spectre | 2015 | Rs. 3.10 cr. |
| 10 | Spider-man: Homecoming | 2017 | Rs. 3.00 cr. |
A fun coincidence is that the last three Bollywood films to set the preview record — Ghajini, 3 Idiots, and Chennai Express — also went on to become all-time grossers. No one is going to expect Stree 2 to do so but in the spirit of "woh stree hai, woh kuch bhi kar sakti hai", if it ends up doing so, this will be one bellwether record to have.
Looking ahead to the weekend, Stree 2 has outstanding pre-sales for its opening day tomorrow. It has sold more than 350K tickets at the national chain, with overall advance close to Rs. 20 crore (Rs. 17 crore nett). The opening day should clear Rs. 40 crore nett, while including previews, it can potentially breach Rs. 50 crore nett as well. The film will enjoy another holiday on Friday for Parsi New Year in Western India and then the weekend followed by Raksha Bandhan on Monday. If all goes well, the five-day extended weekend for the film could be Rs. 175 crore nett.
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