Thalapathy Vijay’s upcoming film The Greatest of All Time (GOAT) is generating massive excitement as it heads toward its September 5 release. With three days left before it hits theaters, the Tamil Pan-India film is already setting records in advance bookings, signaling a phenomenal Day 1 box office performance.
Directed by Venkat Prabhu, GOAT has already sold approximately 3.68 lakh tickets for its opening day, amassing around $956,626.50 in gross earnings before blocked seats are considered, as reported by the trade website Sacnilk. Including blocked seats, the total pre-sales business stands at an impressive $1,267,153.30, marking one of the highest advance booking numbers for a Tamil film this year. This puts GOAT on track to surpass the pre-sales business of Indian 2, making it the Tamil film with the biggest advance booking numbers in 2024.
Three days before its release, GOAT is poised to create history by overtaking the Kamal Haasan-starrer vigilante drama Indian 2, which collected $1,348,008.00 in pre-sales. The film’s advance bookings have already brought in massive business from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, with major contributions from ticket sales in Bengaluru and Chennai.
The Tamil version of GOAT has sold approximately 3.64 lakh tickets, with an additional 1,637 tickets sold for IMAX screenings, bringing the total to 3,65,724. The overall gross earnings from the Tamil version alone amount to approximately $956,626.50. The Telugu market has also contributed Rs 3.4 lakh to the film’s pre-sales total.
Industry insiders are predicting that GOAT will achieve a massive opening of around $4.8 million nett in India, with more than $2.4 million grossed from advance bookings alone. The film’s impressive performance is expected to continue, given that it enjoys a solo release in the South Indian market. Its only competition in the Hindi belt comes from Stree 2, which is still running successfully in theaters as it enters its fourth week.
GOAT will also be released in Hindi under the title Thalapathy Vijay is The GOAT, making it the actor’s first film after his recent announcement of entering politics earlier this year. With a reported budget of around $48 million, GOAT is one of the most expensive films produced this year, further heightening expectations for its box office performance.
In addition to Vijay, the film boasts an ensemble cast, including Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan, Ajmal Ameer, Jayaram, Sneha, Laila, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Vaibhav, Yogi Babu, Premgi Amaren, and Yugendran in pivotal roles.
With such strong momentum ahead of its release, GOAT is on track to become one of the most successful films of the year, both in terms of advance bookings and overall box office performance.
