A new Sidharth Malhotra fantasy film beating a seven-year-old Marvel movie at the Indian box office should hardly be surprising. What is surprising is just how close the contest became.
The Vvaan: Force of the Forrest opened to an estimated ₹8 crore net in India on September 25, narrowly finishing ahead of Avengers: Endgame Encore, which collected approximately ₹7.25 crore net on the same day. Both figures are early trade estimates reported from Sacnilk and can be revised as final theatrical data settles.
That leaves only ₹75 lakh between the two films.
On the surface, The Vvaan won Friday. Dig slightly deeper, however, and Marvel’s performance may be the more unusual one.
The Vvaan wins the total, Endgame wins on efficiency
The Vvaan had an important advantage: considerably more shows.
The Sidharth Malhotra-Tamannaah Bhatia film played across approximately 6,745 shows in India on Friday, compared with around 3,634 shows for Endgame Encore. That means The Vvaan had roughly 86% more shows, yet its estimated net collection was only around 10% higher.
That produces an interesting PopcornRealm calculation.
Using the reported net collections and show counts:
| Film | Day 1 India net | Shows | Approx. net per show |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Vvaan | ₹8 crore | 6,745 | ₹11,900 |
| Endgame Encore | ₹7.25 crore | 3,634 | ₹20,000 |
These are rough averages, not distributor-reported per-screen revenues, and ticket prices vary significantly between formats and cities. Still, they reveal the scale of Marvel’s pull.
On this simple calculation, Endgame Encore generated roughly 68% more net revenue per show than The Vvaan.
Premium formats probably contributed. Marvel’s re-release is playing across IMAX and other premium screens, where ticket prices can be considerably higher than standard 2D admissions. The English version alone accounted for roughly ₹5.25 crore of the ₹7.25 crore opening, with Hindi contributing about ₹1.25 crore and Tamil and Telugu adding the remainder.
Endgame Encore is behaving like a new release
The context makes the ₹7.25 crore figure even more unusual.
Audiences are not discovering Avengers: Endgame for the first time. The Russo brothers’ film originally arrived in 2019, became one of the highest-grossing movies ever made and has been available for home viewing for years.
Encore does add new material, including footage intended to connect Endgame with Avengers: Doomsday, but most of the three-hour movie remains familiar.
And yet its opening is nearly three times what Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar managed when it returned to Indian cinemas in 2025. Interstellar earned roughly ₹2.5 crore on the first day of that re-release.
That makes Endgame Encore one of the strongest Hollywood re-release openings India has seen.
Its appeal also goes beyond simple nostalgia. Marvel has positioned this return as a bridge to Doomsday, giving fans new scenes and an additional reason to sit through a movie they may already know almost by heart.
The Vvaan now needs the weekend more
For The Vvaan, ₹8 crore is a respectable opening rather than a breakout one.
The film benefited from substantially wider show availability and the presence of Sidharth Malhotra and Tamannaah Bhatia, but reviews have been mixed. Hindustan Times’ review praised the potential of its Chhath and Van Devi-inspired mythology while arguing that the film ultimately loses focus among comedy, songs and multiple competing ideas.
That makes Saturday and Sunday particularly important.
A new film is normally expected to expand after Friday if word of mouth is positive. Endgame Encore, on the other hand, has already demonstrated the loyalty of an established fan base and does not carry the same commercial expectations as an original production.
The difference between their Friday totals is therefore less important than what happens next.
If The Vvaan jumps significantly through the weekend, its larger screen count could finally create clear distance between the two. If collections remain flat while Endgame Encore continues drawing premium-format audiences, the more surprising box-office story will become difficult to ignore.
Friday technically belonged to The Vvaan.
But for a film released seven years ago to finish just ₹75 lakh behind a brand-new Bollywood release despite having thousands fewer shows is a result Marvel can comfortably celebrate.
