admin
Indian cinema just made another big statement in Hollywood’s backyard. Ramayana: Rise of a Legend, Nitesh Tiwari’s mega-budget adaptation of the Hindu epic, finished fifth at the North American box office over the November 6–8 weekend with an estimated $8.65 million, despite playing in far fewer theaters than the films around it.
How big is Ramayana’s North American opening?
Sony released the film in 1,433 theaters across the U.S. and Canada on Thursday, November 5. That first day alone, including Wednesday previews, brought in an estimated $3.5 million. Over the three-day weekend it averaged about $6,036 per theater, a stronger average than most of the Hollywood films in the top 10.
Ramayana finished just behind A24’s You Can See Everything, which was playing in more than a thousand additional theaters. Ahead of release, trade trackers had reported that North American pre-sales were more than double those of Adipurush, the last big-screen take on the story.
The week’s other headline was a Japanese film: Godzilla Minus Zero opened at No. 1, meaning two Asian productions were among the biggest stories of the weekend in North America.
Ramayana’s worldwide box office
- India, day one: about ₹64.85 crore net, according to Sacnilk
- Worldwide opening day: around ₹128 crore gross
- First four days: already past Adipurush‘s lifetime worldwide total and nearing the ₹500 crore mark, according to Khaleej Times
Global figures for Indian films are reported by different trackers and can vary, but every estimate puts Ramayana among the biggest Indian openings of 2026.
Who’s in Ramayana: Rise of a Legend?
- Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama
- Sai Pallavi as Sita
- Yash as Ravana
Directed by Nitesh Tiwari (Dangal), the film is the first part of a two-part adaptation. The scale has been a big part of the marketing, with the filmmakers openly pitching it as a potential global blockbuster for Indian cinema rather than just a hit at home.
Why this matters
Indian films have been steadily growing in North America for years, with titles like RRR, Baahubali 2 and the Dhurandhar films proving there’s a large and loyal audience. What’s different about Ramayana is that it’s being distributed wide by a Hollywood studio and is competing head-to-head in the weekend top five, not just in niche rankings.
The question now is staying power. With Ebenezer opening this weekend and Sunrise on the Reaping arriving November 20, Ramayana will need strong word of mouth to keep its screens.
Related on Nerdism
Sources: Seat42F, NewsBytes / Sacnilk, Khaleej Times, Koimoi.