The Rs 1000-crore mark has been now considered as a metric for success for big Indian films. Only about half a dozen films have entered this elite club, so needless to say that it is indeed a big deal. But exchange rates mean that for American films, the mark isn’t that big a deal. A $125 million (roughly Rs 1010 crore) haul may be sizable for an indie flick but a catastrophe for a big studio tentpole. That is how a recent Priyanka Chopra film managed to beat several Indian blockbusters but was still a flop.
The Rs 1200-crore box office disaster
The Matrix: Resurrections, which was released in 2021, was one of the most heavily anticipated movies in the world. Helmed by the Wachowskis, it came out nearly two decades after the pathbreaking original trilogy and was expected to take the box office by storm. But the Covid-19 pandemic had other plans. The pandemic created an unfavourable climate for films globally with many theatres shut. On top of that, Matrix 4 had moderate to bad reviews and poor word of mouth. All this contributed to an underwhelming box office performance. Made on a budget of $190 million (around Rs 1450 crore in December 2021), The Matrix: Resurrections earned only $159 million and was unable to even recover its investment.
The Matrix Resurrections’ earnings
Matrix 4 remains one of the highest-grossing films in Priyanka Chopra’s career despite its underwhelming performance, which is largely because Indian films hardly ever reach the earnings it did because of smaller markets and lower budgets. For instance, Matrix 4’s Rs 1210 crore gross is higher than some of the highest-grossing Indian films, including Jawan (Rs 1160 crore), Kalki 2898 AD (Rs 1040 crore), and Animal (Rs 918 crore). However, what made the Indian films successful were their lower budgets at Rs 300 crore, Rs 600 crore, and Rs 120 crore respectively.
All about The Matrix Resurrections
Priyanka Chopra was indeed part of Matrix. However, she only had a cameo in the film, which was headlined by Keanu Reeves, who returned to play his iconic character of Neo. Carrie Anne Moss also returned as Trinity, along with new additions Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, and Neil Patrick Harris. The film was released in December 2021, and was intended to be the final film in the Matrix franchise.
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