Jun 24, 2026 3:30pm IST
‘Welcome to the Jungle’ Box Office Prediction: Akshay Kumar Eyes Another Success After ‘Bhooth Bangla’
After recently delivering a box office success with “Bhooth Bangla,” Akshay Kumar is returning to the theatres with another comedy, “Welcome to the Jungle.” The third installment of the “Welcome” franchise releases this Friday, June 26, with its paid preview shows beginning an evening earlier on June 25 at 7.30 pm.
Trade experts are projecting a strong opening for this film, with our analytical movie platform, RecoBee, suggesting the first-day collection in the range of ₹18-19 crore net at the box office. The premiere shows are expected to contribute another ₹3.5-4 crore, pushing its overall opening comfortably beyond ₹20 crore. The film is most likely to register Akshay's third biggest opening in the post-COVID era, trailing only behind the star-studded “Sooryavanshi” (₹26.29 crore) and “Housefull 5” (₹24 crore).
The multistarrer and the franchise factor are driving immense excitement for “Welcome to the Jungle.” Although the opening projection has witnessed a slight downward revision in recent weeks, the film remains a natural top choice among moviegoers and the advance bookings reports clearly reflect that.
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The film has displayed a decent trend in advance ticket sales, with the film already selling tickets worth ₹80 lakhs for Thursday preview shows and ₹1.10 crore for the first day. The ticket sales are picking up pace further as the release day approaches.
According to trade estimates, “Welcome to the Jungle” is expected to go above ₹150 crore at the domestic box office, but whether it can outperform “Bhooth Bangla” will largely depend on how audiences perceive the film. The Priyadarshan-directed horror-comedy collected ₹182 in India and ₹270 crore worldwide, emerging a hit at the box office. Given its high production costs, “Welcome to the Jungle” requires a domestic net collection of at least ₹250 crore to be considered a commercially successful venture.
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Meanwhile, Hollywood film “Supergirl” also releases in cinemas this Friday. However, the film has generated limited buzz among Indian audiences. The film has sold tickets worth only ₹18 lakhs in advance sales so far and is likely to open below ₹1 crore at the box office.
The aggressive release strategy of “Welcome to the Jungle” is expected to affect the theatrical runs of the holdover movies like “Cocktail 2” and “Main Vaapas Aaunga.” Both films will lose the majority of their shows despite their decent performances. “Cocktail 2” has so far collected ₹57 crore, while Imtiaz Ali's film is showing exceptional growth through word of mouth and has earned over ₹29 crore net at the box office to date.
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