Success part deux: Are sequels successful in Bollywood?
As the Bollywood movies Gadar 2 and OMG 2 hit the silver screen, India Today’s Data Intelligence Unit looked at the box office revenues of several such films to understand whether movie sequels are profitable or not.
Today, on August 11, movie buffs in the country are in for a double treat: "Gadar 2" and "OMG 2" will hit silver screens. Not to mention, the announcement of "Don 3", in which Ranveer Singh will replace Shah Rukh Khan as the titular anti-hero, has already been met with fan frenzy. Needless to say, it’s the sequel season.
But are sequels profitable? To understand this, India Today’s Data Intelligence Unit looked at the box office revenues of several such films. Here’s the white find:
Hits and Misses
A look at the box office numbers of prominent sequels reveals a mixed reaction from audiences. For example, "Hera Pheri", released in 2000 with a budget of Rs 8 crore, earned a staggering 129 per cent return. Fast-forward to 2006, its sequel "Phir Hera Pheri" hit the theatres with a budget of Rs 18 crore and earned Rs 56.67 crore in Indian box office collections, a 215 per cent return on investment.
This is a ringing endorsement for sequels that obviously led to the making of "Hera Pheri 3", which is set to be released in 2023. "Krrish", "Lage Raho Munna Bhai", and "Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2" are other prime examples of successful sequels, outperforming their predecessors — “Koi... Mil Gaya”, “Munna Bhai MBBS”, and “Bhool Bhulaiyaa” — in terms of returns.
On the flip side, the "Dabangg" series exhibited varying returns. The original made with a budget of Rs 41 crore in 2010 raked in a substantial Rs 193 crore at the Indian box office, a 370 per cent ROI. However, its sequel, "Dabangg 2," made at twice the first film’s budget and released in 2012, earned only a 156 per cent return. The third instalment, 2019’s "Dabangg 3", produced with a budget of Rs 178 crore actually lost money — it experienced a loss of 2.3 per cent. We observed a similar trend with the "Housefull" series. The original film, released in 2010, yielded a 123 per cent return on investment, but its subsequent sequels witnessed diminishing returns. The fourth instalment, released in 2019 with a budget of 162 crores, garnered a mere 43 per cent ROI.
The movie "Baaghi," released in 2016 with a budget of Rs 37 crore, achieved an impressive return of about 186 per cent. Its first sequel, "Baaghi 2," continued the success by generating a substantial 257 per cent return on investment. However, the third sequel, released in 2020 with a budget of Rs 110 crore, yielded nearly the same revenue as its production cost, resulting in a mere 1 per cent return on investment. Another movie on this list is "Student Of The Year". The first one garnered a notable ROI of 64.8 per cent, but the sequel fell short with a mere 26 per cent return on investment.
Interestingly, while horror movies tend to be popular among audiences, the returns on investment paint a different picture. The "Raaz" movie franchise produced three sequels. The first instalment in 2002 made a 496 per cent return on a measly Rs 5 crore budget. The second, while a success in its own right, had a smaller return of 95.4 per cent. The third film saw a 214 per cent ROI. The fourth and most recent one, released in 2016 with a budget of Rs 31 crore, performed the worst and earned just Rs 35 crore at the Indian box office.
Even superstar movie sequels aren’t a guarantee of success. "Don: The Chase Begins Again", starring Shah Rukh Khan saw an impressive 178 per cent return on its Rs 38 crore budget. The 2011 sequel on the other hand managed to make only an 88 per cent return. The Salman Khan movie "Ek Tha Tiger" experienced something similar. The 2012 film, made with a budget of Rs 92 crore, delivered an impressive ROI of 173 per cent. However, its 2017 sequel "Tiger Zinda Hai" achieve a lesser ROI of 106 per cent.
