Top Hollywood first days in India: Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer Seventh ahead of Fast X, Mission Impossible

Oppenheimer grossed an astonishing Rs. 17.50 crores, leaving behind Fast X and Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, for the highest opening day of 2023 for Hollywood.

By Jatinder Singh

Updated on Jul 22, 2023 | 02:37 PM IST | 241.5K

Oppenheimer box office (image courtesy Universal Studios)

UPDATE: Oppenheimer's first-day actuals Rs. 17.50 crores (Rs. 14.50 crores NETT). That makes it seventh highest opener for Hollywood, ahead of Furious 7.

ORIGINAL: Oppenheimer had a seismic impact at the Indian box office, detonating with an explosive opening day that soared to become the eighth highest-grossing Hollywood film debut ever in the country. With a bang, it grossed an astonishing Rs. 16.50 crores approx, leaving Fast X and Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning first-day earnings in the shockwave, for the highest opening day of 2023 for Hollywood. In India, the biggest Hollywood hits are predominantly action-adventure franchise films, as demonstrated in the list below, for a 3-hour talky drama to put these numbers is simply unimaginable.

Credit goes to the film’s director Chris Nolan, who commands a rabid following in India. However, that following is more of a niche and never before has it generated this sort of numbers, especially for the opening. On its very first day, the film surpassed the total box office earnings of Nolan's previous film, TENET, which, to be fair, was a delayed release in a COVID-hit marketplace. Prior to that, his 2017 release Dunkirk had Rs. 15 crores weekend, which is again crossed on the first day itself.

Given the huge start that the film had, it is unlikely to show substantial growth during the weekends that urban audience-oriented Hollywood films often do. Still, there will be some growth as the advance for Saturday is higher. The first weekend should come around Rs. 55 crores, which would have been a very good final number for this film. The advance sales for the film, particularly the IMAX format, are simply incredible, with near-sold-out showings stretching all the way to the second weekend.

The top ten opening days for Hollywood in India are as follows:

Avengers: Endgame - Rs. 64.50 crores
Avatar: The Way of Water - Rs. 48.80 crores
Avengers: Infinity War - Rs. 40.50 crores
Spider-man: No Way Home - Rs. 39.40 crores
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness - Rs. 34.50 crores
Thor: Love and Thunder - Rs. 22.40 crores
Oppenheimer - Rs. 17.50 crores approx
Furious 7 - Rs. 16.75 crores
Captain Marvel - Rs. 15.60 crores
Fast X - Rs. 14.80 crores

On the global stage, India has emerged biggest in terms of opening day footfalls for the film among international markets, with more than 6.50 lakhs ticket sold on the first day, ahead of the United Kingdom. While in terms of gross earnings, India takes second place, just behind the United Kingdom. Notably, India also stands as the only major market where Oppenheimer is considerably ahead of Barbie. In contrast, it is Barbie that dominates in the West, putting record opening numbers, especially in Latin America where it is in Avengers: Endgame territory of numbers.

About Oppenheimer Movie

Oppenheimer is a biographical thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, on the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist who was pivotal in developing the first nuclear weapons as part of the Manhattan Project. Cillian Murphy stars as the titular character, with Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer's wife, Matt Damon as General Leslie Groves, and Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss. Other members of the cast include Florence Pugh, Rami Malek, and Kenneth Branagh.