Maddock Supernatural Universe At Box Office: Varun Dhawan's Bhediya The Only Chink In This Armour, Stree & Munjya Huge Hits

Filmmaker Dinesh Vijan's production banner Maddock has announced a slate of new and returning titles in his ambitious horror-comedy universe including Stree 3, Munjya 2, Shakti Shalini, Chamunda and Pehla Mahayudh. Every year there will be two movie releases. So far, the horrorverse has seen the release of four titles.

The horror-comedy universe started with 2018 release Stree starring Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor. Its success spawned the horror-comedy universe which now boasts of titles such as Bhediya and Munjya. In 2024 Stree 2 was the biggest and only major Hindi hit of the year by earning nearly ₹600 crore in India. Munjya, with a relatively new cast, also did well commercially, earning reportedly over ₹130 crore worldwide. However, Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon starrer Bhediya is one of the underperformers in this franchise. With a sequel of Bhediya announced by the makers for 2026 release, its worthwhile seeing how it performed at the box office in 2022 and the factors surrounding its underwhelming reception.

Bhediya suffered due to COVID-19?

Bhediya released at a time when the pandemic had struck. The film's underwhelming performance has to be analysed in this context. The movie, made on an estimated budget of ₹60 crore, managed to earn a little over ₹95 crore at the box office, earning an average verdict. Critically also, its reception was not as good as compared to Stree, Stree 2 and Munjya.

Bhediya OTT release was long-delayed and the film premiered digitally when viewers had almost forgotten about it.  

How have Stree and Munjya fared at the box office

Munjya, released in 2024 around the election season, was a sleeper hit. Made on a reported budget of ₹30 crore with a new cast, the film grossed over ₹130 crore worldwide and remained one of the top grossing Hindi films of 2024. It also received critical acclaim and praise for its rootedness in Indian folklore and its VFX.

Stree has been a game changer in the horrorverse. The sequel, made on a budget of ₹135 crore, minted over ₹840 crore worldwide. Stree 2 (2024) also became the fifth highest-grossing Hindi film of all time after Pushpa 2, Jawan, Pathaan and Animal.

Stree (2018) was made on a modest budget of ₹30 crore and collected ₹182 crore worldwide. Now, a threequel is also in the works with Shraddha Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao returning to the fold. Fan-favourites Stree 3 and Mahamunjya will release on August 13 and December 24 in 2027 respectively.