With anticipation building around Welcome To The Jungle and its star-studded cast, the film’s pre-release performance is becoming a major talking point among trade analysts and moviegoers alike.
Share Article
https://www.india.com/entertainment/welcome-to-the-jungle-advance-booking-collection-can-akshay-kumars-multi-starrer-film-beat-bhooth-banglas-record-before-its-release-8456130/
Akshay Kumar film targets pre-release milestone (PC: Twitter)
Akshay Kumar’s Welcome To The Jungle is heading into theatres with strong momentum and growing excitement among moviegoers. The film has been one of the most talked-about Bollywood releases of the year due to its massive star cast and its connection to the popular Welcome franchise. Over the last few weeks, audience interest has steadily increased as promotional material and advance bookings began generating buzz. Industry experts are also closely watching the film because it follows a release strategy that recently worked exceptionally well for Akshay Kumar’s horror-comedy hit Bhooth Bangla. With strong pre-release demand already visible, the big question now is whether Welcome To The Jungle can surpass Bhooth Bangla’s advance booking record before release, or has it already?
Welcome To The Jungle records a strong start in advance bookings
According to trade tracker Sacnilk, Welcome To The Jungle has already generated more than Rs 85 lakh in first-day advance bookings, including paid preview shows. The overall early booking figures are approaching the Rs 1 crore mark, indicating a healthy response from audiences even before the film officially arrives in cinemas. The makers have scheduled paid preview shows from 7:30 PM onwards on June 25. Ticket sales for these preview screenings began on June 22, while bookings for Friday, Saturday and Sunday opened on June 23. The strategy is designed to create momentum before the official release day and boost opening weekend collections.
Following the successful Bhooth Bangla formula
One of the biggest talking points around the film is its release strategy. Welcome To The Jungle is following the same paid preview model that proved successful for Priyadarshan‘s Bhooth Bangla earlier this year. Interestingly, the trend gained popularity after Ranveer Singh and Aditya Dhar‘s mega blockbuster Dhurandhar: The Revenge used paid previews to create pre-release excitement and improve opening-day numbers. Bhooth Bangla later adopted a similar approach and benefited significantly from it.
Now Welcome To The Jungle is attempting to replicate that success. Under this model, earnings from Thursday evening preview shows are added to Friday’s opening-day collections, helping create a stronger opening box office figure.
Has Welcome To The Jungle surpassed Bhooth Bangla?
In terms of early advance ticket sales, the answer is yes. Welcome To The Jungle has reportedly crossed around Rs 1.1 crore in regular Day 1 bookings along with nearly Rs 80 lakh from paid preview sales. This gives the film approximately Rs 1.9 crore worth of early booking momentum. By comparison, Bhooth Bangla was reportedly hovering around Rs 80 lakh to Rs 90 lakh during the same pre-release booking window.
This means Welcome To The Jungle has already moved ahead of Bhooth Bangla’s early booking pace. However, it has not yet broken Bhooth Bangla’s final paid preview record. Bhooth Bangla earned an impressive Rs 3.65 crore solely from its Thursday night previews. Welcome To The Jungle currently stands around Rs 80 lakh in preview bookings and will need a significant last-minute surge to cross that benchmark.
One of Bollywood’s biggest ensemble casts in Welcome To the Jungle
Directed by Ahmed Khan, Welcome To The Jungle features one of the largest ensemble casts ever assembled for a Bollywood film. The action-comedy stars Akshay Kumar alongside Raveena Tandon, Paresh Rawal, Suniel Shetty, Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff, Arshad Warsi, Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade and Aftab Shivdasani.
The film also stars Disha Patani, Jacqueline Fernandez, Lara Dutta and Urvashi Rautela alongside comedy veterans Johnny Lever, Rajpal Yadav, Krushna Abhishek and Kiku Sharda. Supporting roles are played by Farida Jalal, Kiran Kumar, Puneet Issar and several others, while Daler Mehndi and Mika Singh make special appearances.
