Three days before its worldwide release, Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana has crossed ₹75 crore in global advance bookings — a pace that has already carried it past the pre-release runs of Animal and KGF Chapter 2, the biggest hits of its two male leads.
The surge arrived only after a ten-day standoff between the makers and exhibitors over revenue-sharing terms was settled over the weekend. With the agreement in place, single screens and smaller centres began opening pre-sales, and the screen count has grown fast.
India gears up in a hurry
By Monday morning, roughly 3,500 screens had opened advance bookings across India — about 1,000 of them added in just two days. That has pushed domestic pre-sales to ₹37 crore gross, of which ₹22 crore comes from the opening day alone and the rest is spread across the extended weekend — paid previews and the days immediately after opening.
The Hindi version still leads the charge, but the Kannada and Telugu versions are now catching up: Kannada shows have sold nearly ₹4 crore in tickets and Telugu has crossed ₹2 crore. So far, close to 9 lakh tickets have been sold in India.
Premium formats are punching above their weight
IMAX and other premium formats are doing much of the heavy lifting. They hold only about 4% of screens but are contributing almost one-fourth of the advance sales — a sign that fans are willing to pay more for the big-screen spectacle, and a reminder of why the film is being positioned as an event rather than just another release.
That pattern puts Ramayana ahead of Animal and KGF Chapter 2 at the comparable pre-booking stage. It still trails the extraordinary runs of Dhurandhar 2, RRR and Pushpa 2, which set a high bar for pan-India openings.
Overseas numbers add the extra push
The international audience is doing its bit, too. North America gets paid previews on November 4, and the 24 hours after the film’s world premiere brought a 27% jump in collections. By Monday morning, overseas advance bookings stood at $3.9 million, including over $1.5 million from the US paid previews alone.
That lifts the worldwide advance total to ₹75 crore with three days still to go.
What’s behind the rush
The scale of the project helps explain the demand. Ramayana is planned as a two-part saga, backed by Prime Focus Studios, DNEG and Monster Mind Creations, with Sony Pictures handling overseas distribution and Dharma Productions leading the Hindi market. Ranbir Kapoor plays Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi plays Sita, Yash plays Ravana, with Sunny Deol as Lord Hanuman and Ravie Dubey as Lakshman.
For fans, the practical takeaway is straightforward:
- Book early if you want IMAX or premium-format seats on opening day — those are moving fastest.
- Watch the Kannada and Telugu show counts over the next two days, as exhibitors keep adding screens.
- US audiences have paid previews on November 4, a day before the global opening.
The first part releases worldwide on November 5, 2026, in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam; the second part is slated for Diwali 2027. Whether the film converts this pre-release heat into an opening-day record is now the big question for the industry.
Source: Hindustan Times