The top-five domestic box office list this past weekend was bookended by two international titles, with Japan’s Godzilla Minus Zero taking the number-one spot. The action sequel grossed nearly $33 million in its first weekend, tripling the debut haul of its predecessor, Godzilla Minus One. It also beat the opening-weekend haul of Legendary’s Godzilla vs. Kong, which cost $200 million to produce. By comparison, Godzilla Minus Zero comes with a reported price tag of $15 million. The movie will likely continue to break box-office records in the coming weeks, but on Monday, it was overtaken on the global charts by an Indian epic that’s having its own moment.
The movie in question cost a reported $200 million-plus to produce, making it the most expensive Indian film of all time by a wide margin. It’s designed as a two-part epic, with the second installment currently slated for a 2028 release. The sequel has already been green-lit and will likely not be contingent on how the first film performs, given the murky economics of Indian productions. No Indian movie project, for instance, has cost $400 million. This is the number that producer Namit Malhotra has publicly cited as the budget for the two-part epic.
The movies are based on a mythological text sacred to Hindus all over the world. The first film follows Lord Rama of Ayodhya, who is banished to the forest for an indiscretion. He is accompanied by his brother Lakshman and his wife Sita. But when Sita is kidnapped by the demon king of Lanka, Ravana, Rama assembles an army to rescue her from Ravana’s clutches. The first film ends with Sita’s kidnapping, and the sequel will likely focus on the attack on Lanka and the mission to rescue Sita. The film stars Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama and South Indian icon Yash as Ravana.
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Personality Quiz
Collider/ Movies/ The Lord of the Rings/ Which Character Are You
Ten Questions · One Fate Which Lord of the Rings Character Are You? The Road Goes Ever On
From the green hills of the Shire to the fires of Mount Doom, every soul in Middle-earth carries a destiny. Ten questions stand between you and the truth of who you are. Answer honestly, because the Ring has a way of revealing what we most want to hide.
The Eight Fates
💍Frodo
🌿Samwise
👑Aragorn
🔥Gandalf
🏹Legolas
🪓Gimli
👁Sauron
🪨Gollum
Stage 1 of 10Burden
You are handed a responsibility that could destroy you. What do you do? The weight of the world falls on unlikely shoulders.
Press 1 to 4 to choose
Stage 2 of 10Loyalty
Your closest companion is heading into terrible danger. You: True loyalty is revealed not in comfort, but in crisis.
Press 1 to 4 to choose
Stage 3 of 10Power
Enormous power is within your reach. Your instinct is: Power corrupts, but only those who reach for it.
Press 1 to 4 to choose
Stage 4 of 10Home
What does home mean to you? Where we long to return reveals who we truly are.
Press 1 to 4 to choose
Stage 5 of 10Combat
When a battle is upon you, your approach is: War reveals what we are made of, whether we like it or not.
Press 1 to 4 to choose
Stage 6 of 10Wisdom
Someone comes to you for advice in their darkest hour. You: Wisdom is not knowing all the answers. It is knowing which questions to ask.
Press 1 to 4 to choose
Stage 7 of 10Identity
How do you see yourself, honestly? Self-knowledge is the most dangerous kind.
Press 1 to 4 to choose
Stage 8 of 10Nature
Which of these best describes your relationship with the natural world? Middle-earth speaks to those who know how to listen.
Press 1 to 4 to choose
Stage 9 of 10Mercy
You meet a wretched, pitiable creature who has done terrible things. You: How we treat the fallen reveals the height of our character.
Press 1 to 4 to choose
Stage 10 of 10Legacy
When the quest is over and the songs are sung, what do you hope they say about you? In the end, we are all just stories.
Press 1 to 4 to choose
The Fellowship Has Spoken Your Place in Middle-earth
💍 Frodo Baggins The Ring-bearer You carry it alone, even when you do not have to.
You carry something heavy, and you carry it alone even when you do not have to. You were not born for greatness, and that is precisely why greatness chose you. Your courage is not the roaring, sword-swinging kind. It is quiet, stubborn and terrifying in its refusal to quit. The Ring weighs on you more than anyone can see, and still you walk toward the fire. That is not weakness. That is the rarest kind of strength there is.
QuietStubbornBurdenedUnbreakable
🌿 Samwise Gamgee The Gardener Not the most powerful. Easily the most essential.
You are, without question, the best of them. Not the most powerful, not the most celebrated, but the most essential. Your loyalty is not a trait, it is a force of nature. You would carry the person you love up the slopes of Mount Doom if it came to that, and we both know you would do it without being asked. The world needs more people like you, and the world is lucky it has even one.
LoyalSteadyWarmDevoted
👑 Aragorn The King in Waiting The crown was always yours. The worthiness you had to earn.
You were born to lead, and you have spent years running from it. The crown is yours by right, but you know better than anyone that right means nothing without the will and the worthiness to back it up. You are tempered by loss, shaped by long roads, and defined by a code of honour you hold to even when nobody is watching. When you finally step forward, the world shifts, because it was always waiting for you.
NobleReluctantHonourableTested
🔥 Gandalf The Grey Pilgrim You do not fight the battle. You light the people who will.
You have seen more than you let on, and you say less than you know, which is exactly as it should be. You are a catalyst. You do not fight the battles yourself, you ignite the people who can. Your wisdom comes not from books but from an age of watching what happens when it is ignored. You arrive precisely when you mean to, and your presence alone changes what is possible.
WisePatientGuidingFormidable
🏹 Legolas The Elf of Mirkwood You see it coming long before anybody else looks up.
Graceful, perceptive and almost preternaturally calm under pressure, you see things others miss and act before others react. You do not need to make a scene to be remarkable, your presence speaks for itself. You are loyal to those you choose to stand beside, and that choice is not made lightly. You have lived long enough to know that the most beautiful things in this world are also the most fragile, and that is why you fight to protect them.
PreciseWatchfulGracefulUnhurried
🪓 Gimli Son of Gloin You arrived suspicious of everyone and left ready to die for an elf.
You are loud, proud and absolutely formidable, and beneath all of that is one of the most fiercely loyal hearts in Middle-earth. You do not do anything by half measures. Your friendships are forged like iron, your grudges run as deep as mines, and your courage in battle is the kind that makes legends. You came into this fellowship suspicious of everyone and ended it willing to die for an elf. That is not a small thing. That is everything.
FierceProudBluntDevoted
👁 Sauron The Dark Lord You think in centuries and act in absolutes.
You think in centuries and act in absolutes. Order, dominion, control, not because you are cruel by nature but because you have decided that the world left to itself always falls apart, and you are the only one with the vision and the will to hold it together. You were not always this. Something was lost, or taken, or betrayed, and the version of you that stands now is the answer to that wound. The tragedy is that you are not entirely wrong, just entirely too far gone to course-correct.
AbsolutePatientRelentlessConsumed
🪨 Gollum What Is Left of Smeagol Two voices, and the better one does not win often enough.
You are a study in contradiction, pitiable and dangerous, cunning and broken, capable of both cruelty and something that once resembled love. You are defined by loss: of innocence, of self, of the one thing that gave your existence meaning. Two voices war inside you constantly, and the tragedy is that the better one sometimes wins, just not often enough and never at the right moment. You are a warning, yes, but also a mirror.
DividedCunningHauntedPitiable
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Here’s How Much the Indian Epic Has Grossed
We’re talking, of course, about Ramayana: Rise of a Legend. Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, who holds the distinction of having directed India’s biggest global hit, the sports drama Dangal, the new film grossed $55 million in its global debut. Of this total, $12 million came from North America. On Monday, the film shattered expectations with a $17 million global haul, of which $13 million came from India. With around $80 million in the bank including Tuesday’s grosses, the film still has a long way to go before recouping its reported $200 million budget. The film has gone on to be #1 in several territories, even beating Godzilla Minus Zero in some cases.
Whether it turns a profit in theaters is another discussion. Ramayana received mostly positive reviews and is currently sitting at a 75% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences, no doubt made up of the faithful, have been more positive, awarding the movie a “Verified Hot” 94% score. The aggregator website’s audience consensus reads, “A beautifully reimagined ancient epic, Ramayana: Rise of a Legend transports audiences through immersive world-building and a majestic, soul-stirring score.” Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
