This weekend’s box office report featured an intriguing entry into the top three. While Bollywood movies often crack the top 10 at the North American box office, the megahit Pathaan made it all the way into the Top 3, beating holdovers like M3GAN, A Man Called Otto and Missing. It’s further evidence that foreign releases are starting to have a significant foothold at the box office (with the Chinese hit The Wandering Earth 2 also cracking the Top 10), thanks to distributors going day and date in the U.S. With RRR also a major hit (although it’s considered Tollywood as it was filmed in Telugu, as opposed to Hindi language Bollywood films), it seems movies from that region are starting to break through with North American audiences.
But what exactly is Pathaan? The movie is a Hindi-language action flick starring Shah Rukh Khan, who’s like the Tom Cruise of India. Pathaan is like his Top Gun: Maverick, as he’s been out of the spotlight for several years, and this is considered his comeback movie. The film is a spy yarn that’s part of a shared universe of Bollywood action flicks called the YRF Spy Universe. Other additions to this franchise include Ek Tha Tiger, starring Salman Khan (the Sylvester Stallone of India) and War, a movie whose fight scenes were widely considered cutting edge for the region. The movies are like a mash-up of the Mission: Impossible films and John Wick; they’ve become box office sensations in India. As it stands, Pathaan is already the eighth highest-grossing Indian film of all time, and it’s only been open for a week.
The movie is open everywhere, with a hefty 600+ theatre run in North America. All this begs the question, would you like more international action films covered on JoBlo? We’re opening up the comments and are curious about your feedback following RRR’s massive global success. Let us know!