War 2 has locked its OTT premiere date on Netflix, October 9. Those of you who didn’t get a chance to catch this Hrithik Roshan and N. T. Rama Rao Jr starrer in theatres can now enjoy this grand-scale chapter from YRF’s Spy Universe from the comfort of your homes.
Despite a strong theatrical opening weekend, War 2 managed to collect nearly INR 303–351 crores, not a small figure by any means, but one that looks underwhelming against its massive budget of nearly INR 300–400 crores. This made the sequel to the 2019 original a box office disappointment.
The film’s collections fell short of the high threshold needed to break even and turn a profit, especially given its production costs and star salaries. To make matters worse, poor critical reviews, strong competition from Rajinikanth’s Coolie, and polarizing word-of-mouth proved detrimental for Ayan Mukerji’s spy action thriller.
According to several online reports, War 2 resulted in a loss of nearly INR 30–50 crores for YRF. Considering the sequel’s enormous production costs, high multiplex ticket prices, and its overall box office performance, the situation could have been worse. Fortunately, the studio was able to recover most of its losses through non-theatrical rights.
Netflix reportedly paid a substantial sum for the film’s digital rights, nearly INR 150 crores, while music rights fetched INR 25 crores and satellite rights brought in another INR 50 crores. This pushed the total revenue to around INR 225 crores, helping YRF control a significant portion of its losses.
So, while YRF’s deal with Netflix may not bring them financial success, it will certainly benefit Netflix in terms of viewership. Many big-budget theatrical underperformers have found immense success on OTT platforms in the past. Plus, with no major Netflix India releases lined up for next month, War 2 could enjoy a solid run on streaming.
Big-scale action films often work well for casual home viewing, and the combined star power of Hrithik Roshan and NTR Jr is bound to attract a massive audience to Netflix. It will be interesting to see how War 2 performs on the platform after its October 9 release. Stay tuned for more updates.
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