Indian star Rajinikanth plays the lead role of a porter in the new Tamil film ‘Coolie’.
Sun Pictures
Indian star Rajinikanth continues to create history at the box office with his latest Tamil film, Coolie. Directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, the new film has scored $55 million in a week at the global box office. On the other hand, the Bollywood spy thriller War 2 remained slow at the ticket windows and grossed nearly $40 million.
Coolie Scores $55 million in 11 days, War 2 struggles
The ‘pan-India’ box office battle appears to be one that Bollywood seems to be failing at. Two big budget Indian films released on the extended weekend on occasion Independence Day in India this year – Tamil film Coolie, headlined by Rajinikanth, and the Bollywood spy thriller War 2 which was released as a Hindi as well as Telugu release thanks to visual dubbing. The Bollywood movie was also released in dubbed Tamil versions. War 2 also featured NTR Jr in a significant role. Coolie has stayed ahead in the race right from the starting – it earned way more than War 2 in advance booking sales. Even now that the craze around both films have fizzled out after ten days, Coolie is $10 million ahead of War 2 at the global box office.
Coolie crosses $40 million in India
Indian star Nagarjuna Akkineni features in an important role in ‘Coolie’
Sun Pictures
Even before the release, Coolie raced way past War 2 collections in advance ticket sales. Rajinikanth’s film earned $6 million worldwide in advance bookings and made an opening collection of $18 million at the global box office. The Tamil film crossed $3 million at the US box office and scored above $200,000 in the UK markets on day one, producers Sun Pictures revealed.
Coolie scored $28 million worldwide by the end of its second day at the ticket windows and wrapped up its first extended weekend at $45.3 million. It earned a little above $2 million in the US markets over the weekend to become the tenth highest grossing film that week on Comscore’s ranking. In the Indian markets, Coolie made an opening collection of $8.9 million on August 14. By Friday, the film’s second day at the box office, it made $16.2 million.
On its first Monday, Coolie registered an expected dip in collections and added a million dollars to the global collections. The pace remained similar over the week, soaring only slightly over its second weekend. The Tamil entertainer closed its second week at the global box office nearly $55 million. With that score, Coolie ranks on third slot of IMDb’s list of top-grossing Indian films of 2025.
Rajinikanth features in the lead role of a porter in the film which also features Shruti Haasan, Nagarjuna Akkineni, Sathyaraj, and Upendra in important roles. Bollywood star Aamir Khan makes a cameo in the film. Made on an estimated budget of $45 million, Coolie is produced by Sun Pictures.
War 2 is 4th top-grossing Indian film of 2025
Indian stars Hrithik Roshan and NTR in a still from ‘War 2’.
Yash Raj Films
Ayan Mukerji’s War 2 has mostly remained steady at the box office, though it has not met trade expectations. Headlined by Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan and Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Junior aka NTR Jr, the film managed a global opening of $10 million. In India, it grossed $7.5 million on August 14, the day of its release. By the end of the first weekend, War 2 scored $31.5 million worldwide. As the week progressed, War 2 recorded roughly one million dollars daily and wrapped its second weekend at nearly $40 million. It is now the fourth top-grossing Indian film of 2025.
Mukerji recently directed Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Brahmastra Part One and brings his emotional strength to Yash Ra Films’ spy universe. The spy universe films by Yash Raj Films comprises of fictional Indian intelligence agents in the lead roles. Ek Tha Tiger (2012), headlined by Salman Khan, was the first film followed by Tiger Zinda Hai (2017) and Tiger 3 (2023). In 2019, Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff debuted as spies with War. Following the box office success film of the films, Yash Raj Films established the spy universe and released Pathaan featuring Shah Rukh Khan in 2023. It was the first film to hit theatres after the spy universe announcement.
War 2 is the sixth film in the spy universe and is also a sequel to War. Roshan is back as a RA&W spy in War 2 which also features NTR in a parallel role. The supporting cast includes Anil Kapoor, Ashutosh Rana, and Kiara Advani along with KC Shankar and Varun Badola.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/swetakaushal/2025/08/26/coolie-is-indias-third-top-grossing-film-of-2025-at-55-million/
