Returning to the comedy franchise Housefull 5 has reaped rich dividends for Akshay Kumar, who has achieved his first Rs 150 crore hit in five years. While his 2023 film OMG 2 also achieved the feat, it was headlined by Pankaj Tripathi. Kumar’s last film as a lead to breach the Rs 150 crore mark at the domestic box office was Raj Mehta’s 2019 comedy Good Newwz.
On day 10, its second Sunday at the domestic box office, Housefull 5 earned Rs 12.3 crore. This was an improvement on its Saturday earnings of Rs 10.2 crore, a further increase from its Friday figure of Rs 6.6 crore. After crossing Rs 100 crore on its first Monday, the film had finished its opening week at Rs 133.58 crore.
As per trade analyst Taran Adarsh, the current domestic box office collection of Housefull 5 stands at Rs 162.69 crore. Thus, the film has already crossed of Kumar’s previous Rs 100 crore club members. These include Toilet – Ek Prem Katha (Rs 134.22 crore), Rowdy Rathore (Rs 133.25 crore), Sky Force (Rs 131.44 crore), Rustom (Rs 127.49 crore), Jolly LLB 2 (Rs 117 crore), Holiday – A Solider Is Never Off Duty (Rs 112.45 crore), Housefull 3 (Rs 109.14 crore), Housefull 2 (Rs 106 crore), and Gold (Rs 104.72 crore).
Adarsh wrote on X, “Housefull5 posts a solid second weekend, recording impressive numbers on Saturday and Sunday… The noticeable growth on these two days, in particular, is certainly a positive sign. Going forward, Housefull 5 needs to maintain its momentum to achieve a healthy total, especially with Sitaare Zameen Par expected to capture a significant share of the market.”
The other films in Kumar’s Rs 100 crore+ club are towards the Rs 200 crore mark. These include 2.0 (Rs 189.55 crore), Housefull 4 (Rs 194.60 crore), Mission Mangal (Rs 202.98 crore), and Good Newwz (Rs 205.14 crore).
Housefull 5 has another four days to perform sans competition before Aamir Khan’s Sitaare Zameen Par enters the race. Directed by RS Prasanna, the spiritual sequel to Aamir’s 2008 directorial debut Taare Zameen Par will release in cinemas this Friday on June 20. Beyond the lack of competition, Housefull 5 seems to have benefitted from multiple other factors.
Firstly, it’s part of a successful franchise which dates back 15 years to 2010. The first Housefull, directed by Sajid Khan, and starring Kumar and others, also crossed the Rs 75 crore mark at the domestic box office. The second, third, and fourth instalments breached the Rs 100 core mark, and Housefull 5 is yet to beat the figure achieved by the previous instalment which released in 2019.
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Secondly, Housefull 5 boasts of an ensemble cast, which is bigger than any of its previous instalments. Returning actors include Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, Abhishek Bachchan, Johnny Lever, Jacqueline Fernandez, Ranjit, and Shreyas Talpade. New actors joining the franchise include Fardeen Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff, Nana Patekar, Sonam Bajwa, Chitrangada Singh, Soundarya Sharma, Nargis Fakhri, Dino Morea, and Nikitin Dheer among others.
Thirdly, Housefull 5 has released in two versions — A and B — which have different killers and endings. It’s produced and written by Sajid Nadiadwala.
