5 Aug 2025: Over 10 days ahead of its release, the advance booking for YRF’s upcoming spy thriller War 2 began in the overseas market. US was the first place where the YRF Spy Universe film started its pre-sales for tickets, looking to bank upon the star power of its two leads – Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR. However, the start has not been what Yash Raj Films had hoped.
War 2 premiere shows in the US
Almost a day after pre-sales were opened in the US for War 2, the Telugu version seems to have picked up some pace, but the Hindi version is lagging far behind. A look at some of the major ticketing platforms like Movie For Tickets shows that most of the big theatres screening the Hindi version have not sold a single ticket for the Wednesday premieres. As per trade sources, YRF is releasing War 2 (Hindi) in 900 screens in the US for paid previews. Telugu 360 reported that as of Sunday morning, only 1600 tickets have been sold across those 900 locations, meaning many of the halls are empty.
This could largely be due to an absence of paid preview and Wednesday premiere culture in Hindi cinema, where even fans prefer to watch the film on the first day or first weekend itself. The premiere shows are a rage down south, particularly in Tamil and Telugu cinema, where these shows get good numbers for films featuring the bigger stars.
HT has reached out to YRF for a comment on the advance booking trends, but is yet to get a response. The article will be updated if a response is provided.
Telugu version fares better
Naturally then, the Telugu version is doing much better, banking on Jr NTR’s star power. The shows for War 2 (Telugu) already show decent occupancy, and as per reports, the collections have crossed $100k in the US for the Wednesday premiere for this version. However, trade experts note that this, too, is lower than expectations. War 2 needs to cross $1 million in Telugu pre-sales alone to justify its scale of release in the US.
All about War 2
War 2, directed by Ayan Mukerji, is a sequel to the 2019 blockbuster War. The film sees Hrithik reprise his role as the superspy Kabir, with Jr NTR joining him as another Indian spy, who is at loggerheads with him. The film also stars Kiara Advani. Part of the YRF Spy Universe, War 2 is releasing on August 14 for the Independence Day weekend.
Summary :
Despite high anticipation, War 2 advance tickets in the U.S. are sluggish—many Hindi shows remain unsold, lagging far behind Rajinikanth’s Coolie.