Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, Singham Again To Rid Bollywood Of 'Threequel Curse'? Box Office Trend Explained

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 and Singham Again, both part of popular Bollywood franchises, are all set to release in cinema halls on November 1. While there was hope that either of the movies would back out of the Diwali race, it's indeed going to be a clash of titans. Meanwhile, a look into the history of third-part releases of franchise films hints at a worrying trend, with many failing to be commercial hits while some struggling to live up to the legacy of the first and second parts, critically.

Box office history of Bollywood threequels: Not so good picture

Some of the popular Bollywood threequels released in the past have been Tiger 3 (November 2023), Dhoom 3 (December 2013), Krrish 3 (November 2013), Race 3 (June 2018), Total Dhamaal (February 2019), Dabangg 3 (December 2019), Houseful 3 (June 2016), Golmaal 3 (November 2010), Fukrey 3 (September 2023) and Bhaaghi 3 (March 2020).

Check out the India collections of the mentioned threequels and their predecessors.

Tiger Zinda Hai: ₹339 crore
Tiger 3: ₹260 crore

Dhoom 2: ₹81 crore
Dhoom 3: ₹260 crore

Krrish: ₹72.15 crore
Krrish 3: ₹175 crore

Race 2: ₹93.48 crore
Race 3: ₹166 crore

Double Dhamaal: ₹45 crore
Total Dhamaal: ₹150 crore

Dabangg 2: ₹149 crore
Dabangg 3: ₹134 crore

Housefull 2: ₹111 crore
Housefull 3: ₹108 crore

Golmaal Returns: ₹80 crore
Golmaal 3: ₹108 crore

Fukrey Returns: ₹112 crore
Fukrey 3: ₹90 crore

Baaghi 2: ₹160 crore
Baaghi 3: ₹92 crore

A doomed box office track record

Out of the ten mentioned titles, Krrish 3 is the only clean hit, which earned decent critical acclaim and was a box office success. Fukrey, Baaghi, Housefull, Dabangg, Race and Tiger threequels did poor box office business when compared to the second part in their respective franchises. Dhoom 3, Total Dhamaal and Golmaal 3 were decent commercial hits but were critically panned and are considered the weakest films in their franchises.

With a positive response to Singham Again and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 trailer, all eyes are set on whether or not the movies will be able to match up to the critical and commercial success of the sequels.