Mirzapur The Movie is all set to hit theatres tomorrow. While many expected Yash-starrer Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-ups to be its biggest competition, another film—made on a significantly smaller budget—has emerged as an unlikely contender: Hanuman Ansh. Directed by Vishal Chaturvedi, Hanuman Ansh was made on a reported budget of under Rs 2 crore and has already crossed the Rs 75 crore mark in India. Mirzapur The Movie now faces the bigger question of whether its loyal fan base will translate into strong theatrical footfall—and, more importantly, whether the film can sustain a long box-office run.

Despite the anticipation surrounding the release, the buzz for Mirzapur has not reached the levels usually associated with the popular series. BookMyShow, for instance, does not currently show a single housefull show across the cities listed, including Delhi-NCR.

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According to industry tracker Sacnilk, Mirzapur The Movie has sold 2,11,755 tickets across 10,377 shows in advance bookings so far. The film’s advance collection stands at Rs 9.60 crore, including blocked seats.

The strongest buzz is being witnessed in Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, with multiple shows already marked almost full. Uttar Pradesh and Delhi have emerged as the biggest contributors, recording gross collections of Rs 1.11 crore and Rs 1.43 crore, respectively. In comparison, the response in major cities such as Mumbai, Pune and Lucknow has been relatively subdued, with Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities showing stronger interest.

Mirzapur is the latest popular television/streaming series to make the transition to the big screen, with the first film reportedly revisiting major portions of the show’s first season.

It is not the first time a popular Indian television franchise has attempted a theatrical spin-off. Khichdi, the much-loved TV comedy, was previously adapted into a film, though it had a modest run at the box office. The makers of Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain also attempted a similar transition, but the film received a limited response.

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With Mirzapur The Movie, the stakes are considerably higher given the show’s massive fan base. It remains to be seen whether Pankaj Tripathi’s Kaleen Bhaiya and Ali Fazal’s Guddu Pandit can replicate their streaming popularity on the big screen and bring audiences to theatres in large numbers—given their popularity on big screen.