Ayan Mukerji’s massively mounted venture ‘Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva’ hit the big screens on 9th September and ever since its theatrical release, all curious eyes are now on the film’s box-office figures. About whether the film would be able to recover its estimated budget to the tune of more than Rs.400 crores and when would it be able to surpass the break-even point.
‘Brahmastra’ received a fantastic opening at the box office (domestic and worldwide) during the opening weekend. After completing one week of its theatrical run, the film has now purportedly breached the coveted Rs.300 crore benchmark at the box office globally.
So, the question that might be baffling cinephiles is whether the revenues generated solely from the Brahmastra’s theatrical performance can recover its massive budget or the actual landing cost? And in case that doesn’t happen soon (worst case scenario), then is there a possibility of the follow-up film ‘Brahmastra: Part Two – Dev’ getting adversely affected, or even shelved?
We are of the opinion that even if ‘Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva’ is unable to break-even from its theatrical revenues, then also the makers most likely go ahead with the second film of the trilogy ‘Brahmastra: Part Two – Dev’.
Firstly, because other than theatrical revenues, the film would fetch a decent amount from its post-theatrical streaming and satellite rights. Moreover, the cost of the first ‘Brahmastra’ movie was also ostensibly increased because of pandemic-induced production delays. That should not be the case with the next ‘Brahmastra’ instalment. That’s why it’s being targeted for a 2025 release if everything goes as planned.
And secondly and probably more importantly is the idea that the ‘Brahmastra’ team is perceiving the project as not just one film but a whole universe of sequels and spin-offs. So, they might be thinking of long-term profitability instead of short-term revenues from just the first film ‘Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva’.
Take the example of Peter Jackson’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ films trilogy. The makers had envisioned the project as a trilogy and all three films were even shot simultaneously. It was a big gamble that paid off big time after the first film became a massive hit followed by two more films with a combined gross of over $2.9 billion at the box office.
Although ‘Brahmastra’ hasn’t obviously followed the same approach of filming concurrently, the makers probably knew beforehand that even if the first part’s theatrical performance fetched them less return on investment, they would nevertheless move forward with the next Brahmastra movie – ‘Brahmastra: Part Two – Dev’ owing to a grander and longer-term vision. What do you think? Do you think if ‘Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva’ turns out to be a box-office flop, would they abandon the future projects or still go ahead?
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