AT ~222 MN, INCREDIBLES 2 IS THE NEW BOX OFFICE KING

Incredibles 2, sequel to the 2004 movie The Incredibles, became the most successful animation movie at the Indian box office. Distributed by Disney India, it has made ~222.6 million since its release on June 5. In the first weekend itself, the movie earned ~178.5 million.

In doing so, the film dethroned Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016) which raked in ~221.2 million. The third position is held by the second movie in the franchise, KungFuPanda 2 (2011), at ~205.5 million. While these collections were during their entire lifetime, Incredibles 2 has raced to the top in the first week.

“Families across the country have embraced the animation stories from Disney. Pixar and the success of Incredibles 2 is a testament of the growing popularity of animation. We are thrilled by the phenomenal response,” said Bikram Duggal, head — studio entertainment at Disney India.

While live action films from Hollywood have adopted localisation as a strategic tool while releasing movies in the country, the earliest adopter of the trend was the 2004 release of The Incredibles. It was the first time a studio got a leading Bollywood actor for the voiceover of Mr Incredible, the male lead. Shah Rukh Khan lent his voice for the character of Bob Parr/Mr Incredible.

Since then, studios have explored new languages to dub and release movies in, associated with different personalities for promotions. They have released trailers in multiple Indian languages and collaborated with various brands to reach out the intendedaudience. Inthecase of Incredibles 2, Disney India got actor Kajol to lend voice for the character of Elastigirl/Helen, leading lady in the franchise, who has a more significant role in the sequel. Apart from signing up a popular celebrity, Disney also released the film in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, apart from English. As a result, the film has managed to gather momentum in regional markets.