K.G.F: Chapter 2 — Prashanth Neel’s sequel to the period thriller — was among the highest-selling and most-watched movies in 2022. As per BookMyShow’s “Best of 2022” report, on release day — April 14 — the movie managed to sell 2.14 million tickets, with further collections coming in the following weekends. The Kannada-language film sold 34 percent of overall tickets in the weekends of 2022, surpassing S.S. Rajamouli’s Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, to emerge as the best-selling film on the platform, with a whopping 17.7 million tickets sold.
According to BookMyShow, K.G.F: Chapter 2 also topped the charts for the highest number of advance bookings, succeeded by the likes of RRR, Ponniyin Selvan: I, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and oddly enough, Idris Elba-led Beast — not the Tamil-language film of the same name, starring Vijay.
The BookMyShow statistics also mention a 116 percent increase in audiences wanting an “immersive cinematic experience” over regular screens. This naturally refers to 3D, IMAX 2D, IMAX 3D, and 4DX formats, which were also heavily promoted during Avatar’s re-release, back in September. The IMAX and 4DX formats are mostly popular with Hollywood films, with Indian titles making a small percentage of the total.
Going by the data collected from the period of January 1 to December 5, BookMyShow Stream — the company’s video-on-demand platform — recorded 1.11 lakh hours of viewing in 2022. The year also saw 200 films getting added to the streaming platform, which 93 percent of the Indian audience devoured. The remaining seven percent, however, opted to buy those films for viewing at their leisure. While there are no explicit figures, the company notes that Spider-Man: No Way Home, The Spacewalker, and the 2020-released documentary centring on the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, Assassins, were the “highest viewed” films on BMS Stream. The Marvel Cinematic Universe entry in the list also has an extended version up for streaming or purchasing, which includes some content that was cut from the theatrical version.
2022 also welcomed some Oscar-nominated movies onto BookMyShow Stream, with Will smith-led King Richard, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, Kristen Stewart’s Spencer, and Parallel Mothers starring Penélope Cruz among the key highlights.
The BookMyShow report also mentions that 8 million audience members stepped out for on-ground live entertainment, across 19,000 plus events — a positive development, after having endured the COVID-19 lockdowns across 2020 and 2021.
