Box Populi
Boom time at the box office as May grosses over Rs 1,100 crore
MUMBAI: May-day magic as moviegoers power record box office collections. When Ajay Devgn raids the screen and Tom Cruise races to the finish, you know it’s a blockbuster month. The report released by Omrax Media explains how India’s box office rang up a robust Rs 1,136 crore in May 2025, making it the second-highest-grossing month of the year so far just behind February. The cinematic surge was led by homegrown action thriller Raid 2 and Hollywood spectacle Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, which together contributed a cool 28 per cent of the month’s takings.
Raid 2 alone punched through the Rs 200 crore barrier, earning it the crown of May’s top earner and placing it just behind Chhaava in the year’s Hindi film rankings. Meanwhile, Ethan Hunt’s final outing delivered over Rs 115 crore at the Indian box office.
Overall, 2025 is shaping up to be a stellar year for the big screen. The cumulative domestic box office from January to May now stands at Rs 4,812 crore 27 per cent higher than the same period last year.
May was also a Hollywood high in India. With Final Destination: Bloodlines and Thunderbolts joining Mission: Impossible in the top 10, English-language films raked in Rs 262 crore marking the best month for Hollywood here since the Barbenheimer boom of July 2023.
Interestingly, the top 10 films so far this year span languages and industries, with four Hindi films and two each from Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam cinema. The box office is proving to be one of India’s most multilingual success stories.
With summer in full swing and June releases lining up to impress, the only question now is can the heatwave at the box office get any hotter?
MUMBAI:If there is a soundtrack to cinema-going, it is the crackle of popcorn and in 2025, audiences at Cinépolis India clearly couldn’t get enough of it. The multiplex chain has revealed its annual popcorn consumption data, showing that moviegoers across its network devoured close to five million tubs of popcorn last year. Broken down, that works out to around 570 tubs every hour, or roughly 10 tubs disappearing every single minute, enough to keep the kernels popping almost non-stop.
In sheer volume terms, Cinépolis sold around 12,000 tonnes of popcorn during the year, underlining just how central the snack has become to the big-screen ritual. Long after the opening credits roll and before the end credits fade, popcorn remains the constant companion.
To celebrate National Popcorn Day on January 19, 2026, the cinema chain is now turning the spotlight on the snack itself. From January 20 to January 31, Cinépolis will run a nationwide “Popcorn Happy Hour”, offering a buy one get one free deal on popcorn across its locations. The limited-period promotion is designed to add a little extra crunch to the moviegoing experience, without adding to the bill.
“Popcorn is the official movie partner, and at Cinépolis, it is the sensory anchor of the cinema experience,” said Cinépolis India managing director Devang Sampat. “With the Popcorn Happy Hour offer, we are making it easier for audiences to add that to their visit, without compromising on quality.”
Sampat added that the consumption data is more than just a fun statistic. Tracking what patrons buy and when they buy it helps the chain refine its food and beverage offerings and shape the overall in-cinema experience. “Our 2025 data helps us understand what patrons are choosing, so we can keep improving the menu and the experience,” he said.
The popcorn push sits within Cinépolis India’s broader Foovies framework, an in-house strategy that treats food and beverages as a core part of cinema-going rather than a side order. The approach focuses on curated menus, value-led campaigns and data-driven decisions, using consumer behaviour to guide what lands at the concession counter.
As theatres continue to compete not just with streaming platforms but with every other leisure option vying for attention, the numbers suggest one thing remains rock-solid: when the lights dim, popcorn still rules the aisle. And with millions of tubs already behind it, Cinépolis is betting that the humble kernel will keep audiences coming back for another bite and another show.
