Yash Raj Films’ “Tiger 3,” starring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif, debuted in fourth position at the global box office with $11.5 million, according to numbers released by Comscore.
The film achieved this despite opening in India on Nov. 12, a Sunday, on the day of the Diwali festival. Diwali is India’s biggest festival and audiences traditionally shun cinemas in favor of family celebrations in the run up to it. However, Monday and Tuesday are also holidays in several parts of India, giving the film the flavor of a weekend, albeit a couple of days late.
“Tiger 3” opened in North America a day earlier, on Nov. 11. The Hindi-language film was also released in Tamil and Telugu-language dubbed versions.
In India, the film grossed $6.3 million, including dubbed versions, on Sunday, according to Yash Raj Films. That makes it the highest grossing Diwali day in the history of Hindi-language cinema surpassing “Krrish 3” (2013); the biggest opening day for Salman Khan, eclipsing “Bharat” (2019) and “Prem Ratan Dhan Payo” (2015); and the biggest opening day of the Tiger franchise.
In North America, “Tiger 3” opened across an estimated 750 theaters and grossed $2.25 million. In all, the film opened across 105 territories.
“Tiger 3” is the latest film in producer Aditya Chopra’s spy universe, which kicked off with “Ek Tha Tiger” (2012) and “Tiger Zinda Hai” (2017) and continued with “War” (2019), starring Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff and “Pathaan” (2023), starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone. In the Tiger franchise, Salman Khan plays Avinash Singh Rathore, AKA Tiger, who belongs to Indian intelligence agency RAW and Kaif plays Zoya Humaini Rathore, an ex-agent from Pakistan’s ISI. “Tiger 3” also stars Emraan Hashmi as the antagonist and has cameos from other franchise stars. “Pathaan” featured Salman Khan in a cameo.
Coming up are “War 2,” with Roshan alongside “RRR” star NTR Jr, and “Tiger vs Pathaan.”