Here's why Hrithik Roshan, Jr NTR's 'War 2' is considered a flop despite earning Rs 236 crore net in India and Rs 400 crore worldwide

Hrithik Roshan, Jr NTR and Kiara Advani starrer 'WAR 2' hit theatres on August 14, just ahead of the Independence Day weekend. The film clashed at the box office with

Rajinikanth

's 'Coolie'. Although it opened to a strong start, the film’s momentum quickly faded, and with final numbers now out, its verdict is clear and that is 'War 2' has been declared a flop as per trade.

The film had a theatrical run of just over five weeks before it dropped on OTT earlier this month. During that period, 'War 2' collected ₹236 crore net in India, which included a modest ₹178 crore in Hindi and a disappointing ₹57 crore net in Telugu. Despite Jr NTR’s massive following in the South, his presence couldn’t translate into the numbers the makers were hoping for. The film’s overseas performance also proved underwhelming, bringing in under $10 million, which took the global total to around ₹365 crore.

According to the box office numbers tracker, Sacnilk, the film sold about 1.2 crore tickets domestically and an estimated 2 million overseas, yet these figures were not enough to offset its enormous budget. The trade tracker gave War 2 a flop verdict, primarily due to its high production and distribution cost. Sources reveal the film’s landing cost stood at ₹400 crore. But it needed to gross ₹650–700 crore worldwide to be considered a success.

In the end, 'War 2' managed barely half of that. Interestingly, the film later faced competition from 'Mahavtar Narsimha' which did much better and was a huge hit, when considered the number it made as compared to the budget. The film made Rs 250 crore at the domestic box office. As far as the domestic box office of 'War 2' is concerned, the film made Rs 236.55 crore net according to Sacnilk. But this number is also lesser compared to its huge budget. While 1.2 crore footfalls might sound impressive in isolation, 'War 2' actually recorded the lowest audience turnout among all entries in the YRF Spy Universe. It even performed worse than 'Tiger 3' (2023), which, despite mixed reviews, managed ₹470 crore worldwide.Perhaps the most telling comparison is with its predecessor, War (2019), which earned ₹475 crore at the global box office. Even the numbers from the Telugu version and numbers that came in due to superstar Jr NTR couldn’t lift the sequel to those heights. With less than ₹100 crore coming from the southern markets, 'War 2' underperformed across India.'War 2' was directed by Ayan Mukerji. The film also saw

Anil Kapoor

and

Bobby Deol

in cameos and introduced the next spy universe film 'Alpha' starring Alia Bhatt and Sharvari.