The 'Barbenheimer'-Tom Cruise Effect: Hollywood's Hat-Trick At Indian Box Office

"Hollywood comes to the rescue yet again," tweeted trade analyst Taran Adarsh

It's a good time to go watch a film in the cinema, should you so want. Three Hollywood films have packed theatres for the last two weekends. International hysteria over the 'Barbenheimer' double feature spilled into Indian cinemas last Friday with both Oppenheimer and Barbie bringing on audiences. The week before belonged to Tom Cruise reprising agent Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. The numbers speak for themselves – Barbie has outperformed Oppenheimer at the international box office but in India, it's been the other way round. Opening day collections for the films totaled over Rs 14 crore net for Oppenheimer and almost Rs 5 crore for Barbie (which released in far fewer Indian screens than its competition). Mission: Impossible opened at about Rs 12 crore net. All three films have been stacking up the numbers since. HOLLYWOOD COMES TO THE RESCUE YET AGAIN… Have often said this and I repeat, #Boxoffice can be very unpredictable, but that's the beauty of this biz.⭐️ #MissionImpossible7#MI7⭐️ #Oppenheimer⭐️ #BarbieThe three #Hollywood biggies - released in a span of two weeks - have… pic.twitter.com/qGTo4Kuobv

The films couldn't be less alike. Oppenheimer documents the making of the atomic bomb; directed by Christopher Nolan, it stars Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt and Florence Pugh. Greta Gerwig's Barbie turns a Mattel IP into a feminist fable with the help of stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. Tom Cruise does the heavy lifting in Mission: Impossible 7 as his Impossible Mission Force races to save the world against an AI-related enemy.

As trade analyst Taran Adarsh pointed out this morning, this Hollywood bumper edition fills in gaping blanks for exhibitors. He tweeted: "Hollywood coms to the rescue yet again. Have often said this and I repeat, box office can be very unpredictable but that's the beauty of this business. Mission Impossible 7, Oppenheimer, Barbie. The three Hollywood biggies – released in the span of two weeks – have filled the vacuum of cinemas across India. If truth be told, the fantastic response to these three films at the box office has proved a blessing for the exhibition sector that was craving for good content, house full boards and packed auditoriums. Now that Hollywood has delivered a hat trick at Indian box office, one wonders, when will we witness a similar phase for Hindi movies?"