Thalapathy Vijay's 'Leo' sets new record with advance ticket bookings; surpasses SRK's 'Jawan'

Amidst the anticipation and excitement surrounding the release of Vijay's action-packed thriller 'Leo' in the Telugu states and the eagerly awaited earliest show in Tamil Nadu, the film has achieved an extraordinary feat in advance booking. Directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, 'Leo' has amassed the highest number of advance tickets sold this year, with a whopping 16 lakh tickets already purchased. It's projected to reach the 20-lakh milestone before the opening day, setting a new benchmark for Indian cinema.

The film has outperformed Shah Rukh Khan's 'Jawan,' which hit the screens last month, and previously held the record for the highest advance ticket sales in India. 'Jawan' managed to secure 15.75 lakh tickets in advance booking for its opening day, but 'Leo' has now taken the lead. The Tamil version of 'Leo' contributed significantly to this achievement, accounting for 13.75 lakh tickets, while the Telugu and Hindi versions clocked 2.10 lakh and 20,000 tickets, respectively.

Despite its remarkable ticket sales, 'Leo' falls slightly short of 'Jawan' in terms of overall revenue generated through advance booking. While Lokesh's film has garnered ₹31 crore, 'Jawan' raked in ₹41 crore. The difference in earnings can be attributed to variations in the average ticket price for both films. On the opening day, the average ticket price for 'Jawan' stood at ₹251, whereas for 'Leo,' it was ₹202.

In Tamil Nadu, 'Leo' has faced an additional hurdle, with the Madras High Court approving the earliest show to begin at 7 AM, instead of the requested 4 AM, and allowing only five shows per day. This limitation is due to the film's runtime of 2 hours and 43 minutes, with a mandatory 20-minute interval and an additional 40 minutes for cinema halls to be cleaned after each screening.

'Leo' is set to make its much-anticipated debut on October 19 in 2D and IMAX formats, offering a thrilling cinematic experience for audiences in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada.