Stree 2 continues its impressive box office run, nearing the ₹750 crore mark globally on its 23rd day. According to Sacnilk, the film earned ₹4.25 crore on day 23, bringing its domestic total to ₹526 crore.
With its fourth week underway, the Amar Kaushik-directed horror comedy's earnings have naturally dipped, but it remains steady with few competitors in the market. The delay of Kangana Ranaut’s Emergency has given Stree 2 more breathing room until The Buckingham Murders releases on September 13.
Despite opening alongside films like Khel Khel Mein and Vedaa, Stree 2 has largely seen an uncontested run.
On its 23rd day, Stree 2 had an overall occupancy rate of 13.35%, with Mumbai reporting 12.25% occupancy from 787 shows, and Delhi-NCR registering 12.75% across 1105 shows. The film has also seen a reduction in the number of screenings in major metros as it enters its fourth week in theatres.
Internationally, Stree 2 has added ₹121.71 crore to its total, bringing its worldwide gross to ₹743.23 crore, as per Bollywood Hungama.
The film’s consistent performance has surpassed the third-week box office collections of major Hindi releases like Animal, Jawan, and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion.
Stree 2 is now the second-fastest Hindi film to enter the ₹500 crore club, following Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan, which achieved the milestone in 18 days.
As the film approaches ₹750 crore worldwide, it’s set to challenge the lifetime collections of other blockbuster hits like Gadar 2, Animal, Pathaan, and Jawan. With its free run continuing, Stree 2 is poised for a strong finish in the coming days.
Single-screen exhibitor Vishek Chauhan emphasized earlier this year that the time it takes for a movie to generate revenue is crucial for the cinema business.
"What people need to grasp is that it's not just about how much a film makes, but how quickly it does so," Chauhan said, explaining that speed is key to a movie’s success. "A film reaching ₹300 crore in a week versus in a year—exhibitors will always prefer the former as it brings in more foot traffic." Chauhan shared this insight while discussing Fighter, a film that fell short of box office expectations despite high hopes for the multi-starrer.
Released on January 25, Fighter managed to collect around ₹80 crore over the Republic Day weekend.
In contrast, Stree 2 pulled in approximately ₹195 crore by the end of its extended opening weekend, maintaining strong momentum through the weekdays.
At multiplex giant PVR Inox, Stree 2 celebrated crossing ₹200 crore in net box office collections (NBOC), becoming only the third film to achieve this milestone, alongside SRK's Jawan and Yash’s KGF Chapter 2, as noted by PVR Inox Pictures CEO Kamal Gianchandani in a tweet.
The medium-budget Stree 2 has given high-budget films like Jawan, Animal, and Kalki 2898 AD a run for their money.
In 2023, Animal and Jawan posted a return on investment (ROI) of 177% and 113%, respectively. Meanwhile, Stree 2 outshined them with a ₹460 crore profit, seven times its budget, yielding an ROI of 767%.
Directed by Amar Kaushik, Stree 2 has surpassed other successful 2024 releases like Munjya, the Hindi-dubbed HanuMan, and Kalki 2898 AD, as well as Bollywood films like Shaitaan and Article 370, in terms of profitability.
While HanuMan earned ₹147 crore in India, Kalki 2898 AD's Hindi version grossed ₹294 crore. HanuMan, made on a budget of ₹35 crore, achieved ₹147 crore in domestic earnings. Kalki 2898 AD, with a ₹600 crore budget, brought in ₹640 crore over 40 days in India.
However, the most profitable film of 2024 came from Malayalam cinema, with Premalu. With a modest ₹3 crore budget, it earned ₹95 crore in India, yielding over 3,000% ROI.
Overall, Malayalam cinema has had an exceptional year, grossing ₹743 crore in the first half of 2024, surpassing ₹633 crore in 2022 and ₹572 crore last year.
In the post-COVID era, The Kashmir Files has outpaced Stree 2 in terms of profitability.
Released in March 2022, The Kashmir Files grossed ₹195 crore on a ₹20 crore budget, achieving an ROI of 875%.
Bollywood’s box office success in the post-COVID period has been unpredictable, with films either performing exceptionally well or missing the mark entirely, according to exhibitors.
For example, despite a strong showing from films like Kalki 2898 AD and Stree 2 in Q2FY24, overall Hindi box office collections declined by 31% year-on-year, totaling ₹1,110 crore. This drop is attributed to a higher base from blockbuster releases like Gadar 2, OMG 2, and Jawan during the same period last year.