Hindi
Dreamworks acquires filming rights of Wicked
MUMBAI: DreamWorks Studios, a motion picture company led by Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider in partnership with Reliance ADAG, has acquired the filming rights of the young adult book series Wicked.
A New York Times bestselling series published by Simon & Schuster, Wicked is a five-book series written by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguié. The first two books, Witch and Curse, were published in 2002 followed by Legacy and Spellbound in 2003. The fifth book, Resurrection was published last summer.
The film that will have adaptation by Aaron and Matthew Benay will be produced by The Gotham Group.
The story of Wicked follows the journey of a young woman who learns that she is a descendent of a powerful coven of witches. Complications arise when she falls in love with a boy who turns out to be a member of a rival coven sworn to destroy her family.
Said Dreamworks co-president Mark Sourian, ” Wicked has all the elements of a great movie–adventure, mystery, star-crossed lovers, bitter enemies and the supernatural. Aaron and Matthew came in with an intriguing take on the books and a story that we feel will really appeal viewers.”
Nancy Holder, who has received four Bram Stoker awards for fiction from the Horror Writers Association, has published sixty books and more than two hundred short stories. Her books have been translated into more than two dozen languages.
Debbie Viguié is author of the Once upon a Time novels like Scarlet Moon and Midnight Pearls as well as the Sweet Seasons novels The Summer of Cotton Candy, The Fall of Candy Corn, The Winter of Candy Canes and The Spring of Candy Apples.
Hindi
Dhurandhar the revenge storms past Rs 1,000 crore in a week, rewrites box office records
Aditya Dhar’s spy thriller sets fastest run to Rs 1,000 crore with record-breaking weekday hold
MUMBAI: The box office has a new juggernaut—and it is moving at breakneck speed. Dhurandhar the revenge has smashed past the Rs 1,000 crore mark worldwide in just a week, clocking a staggering Rs 1,088 crore and resetting the rules of the blockbuster game.
Backed by Jio Studios and B62 Studios, and directed by Aditya Dhar, the spy action sequel opened to the biggest weekend ever for an Indian film globally—and then refused to slow down. Unlike typical tentpole releases that taper off after Sunday, this one powered through the weekdays with rare muscle, posting Rs 64 crore on Monday, Rs 58 crore on Tuesday, Rs 49 crore on Wednesday and Rs 53 crore on Thursday.
The numbers stack up to a formidable first-week haul. India collections stand at Rs 690 crore nett and Rs 814 crore gross, while overseas markets have chipped in Rs 274 crore, taking the worldwide total to Rs 1,088 crore in just eight days.
The film’s opening weekend alone delivered Rs 466 crore, laying the foundation for what is now being billed as the fastest climb to the Rs 1,000 crore club in Indian cinema. Every single day of its first week has set fresh benchmarks, from the highest opening weekend to the strongest weekday hold—metrics that typically separate hits from phenomena.
A sequel to the earlier hit Dhurandhar, the film has not just built on its predecessor’s momentum but obliterated previous records, emerging as the biggest global blockbuster run by an Indian film to date.
At this pace, the film is not merely riding a wave—it is creating one.
