BOMBAY, July 23 (AFP) - Blockbuster film "Spider-Man 2" opened to a huge response across Indian theatres Friday, with the industry expecting its record 300-print release to sideline new Bollywood fare.
The sequel was expected to become the top Hollywood grosser in India and top the 520 million rupees (11.2 million dollars) posted by "Titanic" and the 280.1 million rupees netted by "Godzilla".
The first Spiderman film was the third-highest foreign movie grosser in India, with collections of 280 million rupees.
"It will beat all opposition in Hindi and English. Spiderman is not just an international brand, but also an Indian brand. People identify with it," said trade analyst Tarun Adarsh.
"The number of prints that are being released is at par with any big budget Hindi films," he added.
Bollywood releases in recent weeks as well as those releasing simultaneously with Spider-Man 2 were bound to be hit by the film, trade pundits said.
Spider-Man 2's release has forced a bunch of Bollywood films to be pushed back to next month, film industry reports said.
It has been sold out for the next two to three days in theatres of Bombay, home of India's prolific Hindi-language cinema known as Bollywood, and has received an equally enthusiastic response in other Indian cities, cinema owners said.
"The bookings percentage over the weekend have been in the high nineties. It has become a mass market movie in India as it has been dubbed in local languages," Ajay Bijli, managing director of PVR cinema chain, told AFP.