'GOAT' box office prediction day 1: Thalapathy Vijay's film may rake ...

The Greatest of All Time or GOAT, the Thalapathy Vijay-led action thriller, is set to witness a strong opening at the box office given its excellent advance bookings in India and worldwide.

In India, the film has grossed over Rs 24.5 crore in terms of advance bookings for its day 1. Of this, the film's Tamil 2D shows logged around Rs 22.83 crore whereas its Tamil IMAX 2D shows logged around Rs 30 lakh.

GOAT's Telugu and Hindi 2D shows minted Rs 85.66 lakh and Rs 50.52 lakh respectively in India, as per film trade portal Sacnilk. The film saw high advance bookings in states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra. 

At the worldwide box office, the latest Thalapathy Vijay film has crossed Rs 50 crore in its advance booking as of Wednesday. The film's advance booking collections are expected to finish at around Rs 60-70 crore. 

Given these numbers, GOAT is likely to open above Rs 100 crore at the worldwide box office.

This is less than Thalapathy Vijay's previous film Leo which opened at Rs 142 crore at the worldwide box office. The Greatest of All Time is expected to become Thalapathy Vijay's second movie to get a Rs 100 crore+ opening at the worldwide box office.

Thalapathy Vijay's film is, however, unlikely to impact the box office run of Shraddha Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao's Stree 2, especially in North India. As of its 20th day, Stree 2 raked in Rs 515.05 crore, topping the lifetime India box office business of Baahubali 2. 

This is because The Greatest of All Time's dubbed Hindi version will not be released in national multiplex chains -- PVR, Inox, and Cinepolis after makers failed to adhere to the theatrical guidelines. 

These guidelines state that makers of all new Hindi movies will have to maintain an 8-week-gap between the theatrical release and premiere on OTT platforms. The makers of GOAT, however, have a pre-decided agreement with an OTT platform to release the movie just after 4 weeks, as per media reports. 

Directed by Venkat Prabhu, The Greatest of All Time or GOAT is the penultimate film of Thalapathy Vijay before his foray into politics.

The film focuses on Gandhi, former leader of a special anti-terrorist squad, who reconciles with his squad members to address the challenges arising from their previous actions. 

GOAT features Thalapathy Vijay in double role as MS Gandhi and Jeevan/Sanjay. It also features Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Ajmal Ameer, Mohan, Jayaram, and Yogi Babu in significant roles. Trisha Krishnan, Sivakarthikeyan, Vijayakanth and YG Mahendran also feature in cameo roles. 

Artificial intelligence was used for recreating Vijayakanth on screen. The film is scheduled for theatrical release worldwide on September 5.