Hollywood’s India comeback is getting bigger for PVR INOX, with admissions up 50-60%

Hollywood is making a stronger return to Indian cinemas, and for PVR INOX , the recovery is becoming meaningful enough to reshape the multiplex chain’s annual revenue mix. Hollywood admissions at PVR INOX are up 50-60% from last year through August, while the segment is expected to contribute around 20-22.5% of the company’s revenue for the April-March year, Kamal Gianchandani, CEO, PVR INOX Pictures told Fortune India.

Gianchandani said the revival is not limited to big-ticket franchises such as Spider-Man and The Odyssey. Smaller and more experimental films are also finding audiences, suggesting that the Hollywood recovery is broadening beyond the usual blockbuster cycle.

“Hollywood will definitely, compared to last year, be 50-60% more in terms of admissions,” Gianchandani said, adding that the company’s Hollywood portfolio had performed in that range through August.

The resurgence comes after several disruptions affected Hollywood’s content pipeline, including the actors’ strike, writers’ strike and uncertainty around theatrical and streaming release windows. With these issues largely behind the industry, studios have returned to a more consistent theatrical release model, which has improved the supply of films for cinemas.

According to PVR INOX’s FY26 annual report, gross box office collections crossed ₹13,519 crore, up 11% from the previous year and the highest level recorded in the history of Indian cinema. English-language cinema was a key contributor, growing 54% on the back of a strong Hollywood slate.

From Spider-Man to smaller films, Hollywood’s audience is widening

The change is particularly visible in the performance of films outside the traditional blockbuster category. While Spider-Man exceeded expectations in India, films such as Michael, a biography of Michael Jackson, and the smaller horror title Obsession also performed strongly. Gianchandani said Drama, a niche commercial arthouse film, did almost 200% of the business that similar films had generated in the past.

He also pointed to films emerging from newer sources. Backroom, based on a concept popular on YouTube, performed well, while Obsession was also made by a young YouTuber. Gianchandani expects this to become a more visible route for feature filmmaking, with YouTube concepts and streaming series increasingly being adapted into theatrical films.

“The kind of business we saw for Obsession in India, unbelievable,” he said. “Different type of films are working, but the pattern is similar to US.”

The film grossed over $514 million worldwide on a tiny $750,000 production budget.

For PVR INOX, this matters because Hollywood has historically been a consistent part of its content mix. Gianchandani said Hollywood typically accounts for around 10% of the overall Indian box office, with the share generally hovering between 10% and 12%. This year, he expects it to reach around 12-12.5%.

At PVR INOX, however, Hollywood’s contribution is considerably higher, at around 20-22.5% of revenue. The company expects that contribution to hold at roughly the same level for the full financial year.

The recovery is also being supported by what Gianchandani describes as streaming fatigue. Audiences that had become accustomed to consuming smaller films at home are increasingly returning to theatres, giving niche international titles another avenue for discovery.

The pipeline for the rest of the year is led by The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping and Avengers: Doomsday. Gianchandani said advances for Avengers: Doomsday in the US had already broken previous records, although PVR INOX had not yet opened advances in India.

The Hollywood revival is also largely pan-India rather than concentrated in a particular geography. While Japanese anime has emerged as another strong international category after Covid, other foreign-language films remain relatively modest.

For PVR INOX, the strategy now is to keep the content mix broad, giving major blockbusters large releases while continuing to provide space for niche and independent films. The company is also looking to take foreign-language content deeper into smaller towns, where Hollywood has traditionally struggled. Gianchandani expects that strategy to start showing benefits over the next 12-18 months.