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With less than two days to go for the release of Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar: The Revenge, advance bookings have reached an unprecedented level.

The film is racing ahead at the box office even before release, setting new benchmarks globally and emerging as the biggest premiere event in Indian cinema, having sold over one million tickets already.

The overwhelming demand has pushed exhibitors to expand show schedules aggressively. Many theatres are now extending screenings into late-night and even post-midnight slots, turning the film into one of the rare Indian releases to run almost round the clock in several regions.

© Jio Studios

So far, nearly 15 lakh tickets have been sold across India in advance bookings, with close to half of that number attributed to the paid preview screenings scheduled for Wednesday.

However, the film’s lengthy runtime of nearly four hours has created programming challenges for exhibitors, limiting the number of shows per screen to around four during standard hours. According to industry sources cited by Hindustan Times, theatre chains are allocating approximately four hours and forty minutes per screening, factoring in trailers, interval breaks and turnaround time between shows.

In response to the surge in demand, cinema halls in cities like Mumbai and Thane have already begun scheduling shows at unconventional hours. Venues such as PVR Chakala and MovieMax Sion are running screenings from as early as 1:50 AM through to late evening. Similar late-night shows have also been introduced at MovieMax Thane and Connplex Cinemas starting Thursday.

© Jio Studios

One of the clearest indicators of the massive demand for Dhurandhar: The Revenge can be seen at Mumbai’s iconic Maratha Mandir. The theatre, which has been screening Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge continuously for over three decades, has made a rare adjustment to its schedule. Traditionally played at 11:30 AM, DDLJ has now been shifted to an early morning slot to accommodate the extended runtime and high demand for Dhurandhar 2.

Dhurandhar: The Revenge is already putting up staggering numbers even before release. The film has recorded around ₹30 crore in advance bookings for paid previews, along with another ₹20 crore for its opening day.

Trade estimates suggest it could achieve the unthinkable by nearing ₹100 crore in advance sales in India for the extended opening weekend before the first show even begins.

The sequel is being described as a once-in-a-generation theatrical event, scaling unprecedented heights at the box office. Early projections indicate a historic opening day of over ₹100 crore nett in Hindi (including paid previews), while the first week alone could cross the ₹500 crore mark. With just two days left for release, the film is poised like a box office tsunami, ready to shatter records by a significant margin.