Jailer 2: Weaker Buzz Than Jana Nayagan-Coolie, Dull North Presales, But Rajinikanth Film May Mint 175 Cr On Day 1

Jailer 2: Trade experts are split over if the Rajinikanth starrer can rake in bigger moolah than Vijay's Jana Nayagan. They add it will have 'muted' collections in north India.

Rajinikanth starrer Jailer 2 releases today. As of yesterday, the film had sold about 15 lakh tickets in advance for the opening day and with that, its presale figures surpassed that of Coolie and Annatthe. As per BookMyShow, Jailer 2 recorded a sale of more than 20,000 tickets in an hour on Wednesday. What works in its favour is the franchise value and its star-studded ensemble.

For the unversed, its predecessor Jailer had emerged as the sixth highest-grossing Indian film of 2023 and second highest-grossing Tamil film of all time. And joining Rajinikanth on Jailer 2 is Vidya Balan, Mithun Chakraborty and SJ Suryah, along with cameos by Mohanlal, Hrithik Roshan, Vijay Sethupathi and Shiva Rajkumar. So, will Jailer 2 be able to set new records?

Will Jailer 2 Enter The Rs 100 Crore Club On Day 1?

Chennai-based trade analyst Ramesh Bala exclusively tells News18, “The buzz is very good here. The advance booking has already crossed Rs 60 crore worldwide. In India, the presales stand at around Rs 35 crore (as of Wednesday). I expect the day one opening to be about Rs 125 crore globally, with India contributing Rs 75 crore."

Trade guru Atul Mohan, in a similar vein, remarks, “The buzz of Jailer 2 in the south belt is sensational and phenomenal. The Tamil version and the other south dubbed versions should touch Rs 100 crore. In fact, most shows in south were already sold out yesterday." Producer and film business expert Girish Johar too calls the hype ‘ballstic’ and predicts more than Rs 50 crore on day one in India.

Jailer 2 Lags Behind In North India

Jailer 2 isn’t releasing at PVR-INOX and Cinepolis cinemas in north India over a dispute over the film’s OTT release window. These chains require an eight-week gap between a Hindi film’s theatrical release and its OTT premiere. For business experts, this could negatively impact Jailer 2’s collections in the Hindi-speaking regions.

“In the Hindi belt, the buzz is nothing extraordinary despite Vidya’s presence in the film. It wasn’t been promoted as something that’s frontlined by her. In the northern market, I’m expecting Jailer 2 to open at Rs 3-5 crore. It’s also not playing on national players. But it can witness a fantastic jump if the content is strong," Johar opines.

According to Mohan, the Hindi collections could be even lesser. “Yes, the film stars Vidya but she doesn’t hold the same popularity that she once did. The national chains in north India won’t be screening the film either. But in south, Jailer 2 is being shown only in a few of these multiplexes. The Hindi dubbed version should earn around Rs 1 crore in India on day one," he remarks.

Bala shares a similar sentiment as he says, “The Hindi version has a cameo by Hrithik. If that strikes a chord, it should do well in the Hindi speaking belt too. The issue is that the film isn’t releasing in multiplexes such as PVR-Inox due to the four-week OTT release window. That’s why I feel it will have a muted collection up north."

Coolie VS Jailer 2

Rajinikanth’s last release Coolie closed its theatrical run with a worldwide gross collection of Rs 518 crore. According to trade experts, Coolie had a stronger buzz than Jailer 2 due to the scale of its pre-release campaign and how much conversation it generated beyond Rajinikanth’s fan base, thanks to the presence of multiple stars like Nagarjuna Akkineni, Soubin Shahir, Upendra and Aamir Khan.

For Bala, the Rajinikanth-Lokesh Kanagaraj combination was a major draw too. “Coolie opened to Rs 151 crore globally. The Telugu-speaking states also saw a big buzz surrounding Coolie because of the Lokesh Kanagaraj factor. If the word-of-mouth for Jailer 2 is strong and theatres add night shows, there’s a possibility of it beating Coolie. I’m cautiously optimistic," he states.

Though the presales of Jailer 2 has surpassed Coolie, Mohan also feels that the overall anticipation surrounding the latter was more. “Jailer 2’s trailer garnered mixed reactions," he points out. “Coolie’s hype was bigger. I’m sure that we can expect a twist in Jailer 2 along the lines of the one in the first film, and the hype surrounding Jailer 2 will peak in the coming weekend," Johar adds.

Can Jailer 2 Beat Jana Nayagan To Emerge As The Highest Tamil Grosser Of 2026?

Now, despite a leak, Jana Nayagan had an advantage. It was Thalapathy Vijay’s swan song as an actor. Needless to say, public emotions ran high. Jailer 2, according to Johar, enjoys an upper hand for ‘not suffering a leak’. “It has all the possibility of crossing Jana Nayagan day one figures," he says, adding that whether the same can be said for its lifetime collections remains to be seen.

Bala too is confident that it will perform better than Jana Nayagan in south. “Jailer 2 has a bigger hype and higher presale in Kerala compared to Jana Nayagan. The downside of Vijay’s farewell film was that it was leaked and many people had watched it by the time it released in cinemas. That’s why it opened lower than Leo," he explains.

Mohan, however, disagrees. “If I compare Jailer 2 with Jana Nayagan, I don’t see it crossing the latter’s day one figures. The buzz surrounding Jana Nayagan was euphoric. Considering that, I don’t see Jailer 2 crossing the lifetime collections of Jana Nayagan either," he tells us. For the unversed, Jana Nayagan minted about Rs Rs 42 crore on its day one in India.

Has Vijay’s Exit Led To A Bigger Share Of The Superstar Market For Rajinikanth?

Over the past few years, Tamil cinema has witnessed a box-office face-off between Vijay and Rajinikanth. While Vijay’s GOAT, Leo and Master emerged as the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2024, 2023 and 2021, respectively, the latter’s Coolie and Darbar led the charts in 2025 and 2020, respectively. So, what does Vijay’s farewell from cinemas mean for Rajinikanth?

“Certainly, Rajinikanth is undisputed now. The common factor between them is that their films do exceedingly well even in Kerala and Karnataka. In Tamil Nadu, Ajith Kumar also has a massive pull. But if you look at the picture worldwide, Rajinikanth holds the power for the biggest openings," Bala remarks. But Mohan has a different opinion.

“Each of them has their own markets. I don’t think their films could clash and implode. I don’t think the absence of one actor will give another actor an advantage. There has aways been a calsh between Vijay and Ajith Kumar’s fans. On the contrary, both Ajith and Vijay’s fan-bases go watch Rajinikanth’s films. So, yes, that’s the only advantage," he states.