The Devil box office collection day 2: Challenging Star Darshan’s return to the big screen with The Devil, following his controversial arrest in the high-profile Renukaswamy murder case, opened on a strong note at the box office. The film earned an impressive Rs 10 crore on its opening day. However, the momentum appears to have slowed significantly on Day 2. According to early estimates by industry tracker Sacnilk, The Devil collected only around Rs 3.5 crore on its second day, taking its total domestic net collection to approximately Rs 13.5 crore. This marks a sharp drop of nearly 65% from its opening-day earnings. While a decline was expected given that Day 2 was a working day, the magnitude of the drop, especially after such a strong opening, has raised concerns.
The film had approximately 1,200 shows and recorded an overall occupancy of 35.41% on Day 2. The day began with a modest 17.81% occupancy in morning shows, which rose to 29.03% in the afternoon. Occupancy improved further in the evening at 36.24% and peaked at 58.56% during night shows. Region-wise, Bengaluru led with the highest number of shows at 538, registering an occupancy of 33.25%. Mysuru followed with 70 shows and a significantly higher occupancy of 58%.
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Despite its solid opening, The Devil is trailing behind Darshan’s previous release Kaatera. The period actioner had amassed Rs 18.85 crore by the end of its second day. Even Kranti, which had a middling run at the ticket window, performed marginally better, reaching a total of Rs 13.9 crore in two days. That said, The Devil is still ahead of the surprise Kannada hit Mahavatar Narsimha, which collected Rs 6.35 crore over its first two days. Unsurprisingly, it remains way behind Rishabh Shetty’s Kantara: Chapter 1, which had crossed Rs 128.75 crore within just two days.
Interestingly, The Devil has outperformed the original Kantara, which earned Rs 4.6 crore in its first two days back in 2022. However, it falls well short of Yash’s 2018 blockbuster KGF: Chapter 1, which had grossed Rs 23.2 crore in the same time frame. Apart from mixed word of mouth, the film’s slowdown can also be attributed to the simultaneous release of Balakrishna’s Akhanda 2, which reportedly opened to a massive Rs 22 crore, drawing audience attention away from The Devil. It now remains to be seen how Darshan’s film performs over the weekend and whether it can regain momentum and stabilize its box-office run.
