Hansal Mehta's slow-burn murder mystery, The Buckingham Murders, has been released in theatres on September 13, 2024. It had its world premiere earlier at the 67th BFI London Film Festival on October 14, 2023. Starring Kareena Kapoor Khan in the lead, The Buckingham Murders opened to good reviews, with most critics praising the lead actress' performance and Hansal Mehta's direction. The positive reviews, in a way, have also affected the movie's box office performance. ‘The Buckingham Murders’ Movie Review: Kareena Kapoor Khan Excels in Hansal Mehta’s Riveting Investigative Thriller.

The Buckingham Murders started off slow at the box office, earning INR 1.62 crore on Friday. However, buoyed by the positive reviews and better word-of-mouth audience response (quite essential for a 'hatke' film like this), the collections showed an improvement over its opening weekend. The Buckingham Murders collected INR 2.42 crore and INR 2.72 crore on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

At the time of writing this article, The Buckingham Murders had netted INR 7.81 crore in four days in India, which isn't bad per se, considering how it started.

'The Buckingham Murders' Four-Day Box Office Collection in India

The Budget of 'The Buckingham Murders'

According to certain reports, The Buckingham Murders has been rumoured to be made on a modest budget of INR 40 crore, even though it was shot entirely in a foreign country. If the amount is true, it still makes sense for the movie to be so controlled in its production costs since Kareena Kapoor Khan is the solo big name in the cast of the movie and also one of the producers.

Watch the Trailer of 'The Buckingham Murders':

Can 'The Buckingham Murders' Turn Into a Theatrical Success With This Budget?

While we can say for certain that there is an uptick in the collections of The Buckingham Murders, there is still a long way to go for the movie to turn into a theatrical success. We cannot expect The Buckingham Murders to recover its rumoured budget by the next weekend. Like the movie itself, even the collections are kinda slow-burn. If The Buckingham Murders keeps the momentum ongoing, there is a possibility of it recovering its costs in the weeks ahead, even if it looks like a major challenge for now. ‘The Buckingham Murders’: NSFW Alert! Kareena Kapoor Khan’s Murder-Mystery Movie Has a Surprising Nude Scene.

Luckily for The Buckingham Murders, there is no huge Hindi release till October 11, which would see the arrival of Jigra, starring Alia Bhatt, and Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video, starring Rajkummar Rao and Triptii Dimri. Yes, there is Yudhra, starring Siddhant Chaturvedi and Malavika Mohanan, coming on September 20, but we believe there would be space for The Buckingham Murders to sustain in the second weekend. It may also have to be wary of Stree 2, which is still going strong in theatres. Even though it is presently in its fifth week, Stree 2 still managed to earn INR 3.17 crore on Monday, nearly triple that of what The Buckingham Murders earned on that same day.

Has 'The Buckingham Murders' Already Become Profitable?

One of the movie's main producers, Ektaa R Kapoor, has already confirmed that The Buckingham Murders has recovered its entire budget through rights and distribution. The theatrical revenue is just the cream on top of the layer for them as of now. Still, it would have been a big boost if the movie was also a theatrical success, as it would encourage producers to push more female-driven and niche-engagement films like this.

Why is 'The Buckingham Murders' Seeing the Initial Struggle?

The Buckingham Murders is shot entirely in England featuring a cast predominantly of British actors. The original version has characters speaking English and Hindi. The trailers made it clear that the movie isn't exactly for the mainstream audience who have a craving for populist fare habituated to movies like Jawan, Gadar 2, Animal and Stree 2. In fact, Kareena Kapoor Khan's previous theatrical movie release, Crew (March 29, 2024), earned INR 10.28 crore, which is much more than The Buckingham Murders' four-day box office collection.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 17, 2024 12:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).