Last week, Bollywood Hungama did a viral story that on the day of its release, March 26, Project Hail Mary was able to secure shows in only 6 out of 34 IMAX screens in India. Thanks to the impact of the Bollywood Hungama article, relentless efforts by the Sony Pictures team and sustained pressure from the fans, the exhibitors finally relented. From March 27, all the theatres of IMAX started playing Project Hail Mary. The demand was such that Eros Cinema even played a show at 3:45 am on Saturday, March 28 and Sunday, March 29. Yesterday, it came to light that the Hollywood studio again had to put up a tough fight to get shows for their film in its second week. What complicated the matter is not just Jio Studios’ insistence for IMAX shows in Dhurandhar The Revenge but also persuasion by Universal Pictures to play The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
Bollywood Hungama has now learned that the issue has been resolved and Project Hail Mary has emerged victorious. A source told us, “Project Hail Mary now has 108 shows across 34 IMAX screens in India. As for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, it will play 66 shows. Meanwhile, Dhurandhar The Revenge will have 21 shows a day. In short, Sony has secured nearly 2x the IMAX shows compared to Mario and 5x compared to Dhurandhar 2 this week. It now has more showcasing than Week 1.”
The source continued, “The demand for Project Hail Mary in IMAX refuses to die down. It’s a film shot in IMAX and hence, it ideally deserves more shows in IMAX. It took a while, but finally, Project Hail Mary managed to get what it deserved from the first day.”
From April 3, Dhurandhar The Revenge will only play post 11:30 pm in Mumbai’s Inox R City Ghatkopar, Miraj Wadala, Cinepolis Seawoods and Inox Sky City Mall Borivali and at 6:55 pm at Eros. A similar arrangement can also be seen in the IMAX cinemas in Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata and Coimbatore.
Meanwhile, many IMAX cinemas like Mumbai’s PVR IMAX Lower Parel, Cinepolis Thane, Inox Maison BKC, PVR Superplex Logix Noida, PVR Ambience Gurugram, PVR Superplex Noida, PVR Select City Walk Delhi, Cinepolis Centre Square Kochi, PVR Lulu Trivandrum etc. have discontinued Dhurandhar The Revenge from April 3. On the other hand, the 3:00 am show will continue for Project Hail Mary in Eros this week as well. Many theatres will also have shows at 6:00 am and 7:00 am.
As per reports, the first week collections of Project Hail Mary are around Rs. 25-26 crores. It is all set for a lifetime north of Rs. 50 crores, looking at the extraordinary trend.
Also Read: Project Hail Mary vs Dhurandhar The Revenge Round 2: Tussle begins over IMAX show sharing for next week; The Super Mario Galaxy Movie also joins the fray
