Sony Pictures’ 2012 has become the biggest Hollywood grosser in India ever, and Fox Star’s Avatar (below) too is expected to be a blockbuster

When SPE Films India released 2012 last month, it didn’t expect the end-of-the-world disaster flick to storm the Indian box office. 2012 is expected to fetch a gross box office (GBO) of Rs 90 crore. But already, it has bested Spider-Man 3’s Rs 68-crore record to become the biggest Hollywood grosser in India.

That’s not all. Hollywood’s box office meter is still ticking away with James ‘Titanic’ Cameron’s mega-blockbuster Avatar just hitting the screens. The sci-fi, 3D-live action fantasy could well match 2012’s success. All this in a year that saw hits like Slumdog Millionaire, Ice Age 3, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Fast & Furious. Clearly, it’s been a smash hit for Hollywood films in India this year.

Says Vijay Singh, CEO, Fox Star Studios India, “I think this has been a fascinating year because we’re beginning to see a step-change for Hollywood films in India.”

For one, the Indian audience for English films is clearly expanding, and the studios are doing wider releases too. Sony put out 741 prints of 2012. Audiences in little-known towns like Adoni in Andhra Pradesh lapped up the film, which Sony released in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Avatar too has released with over 600 prints.

What’s more, Indians aren’t just devouring the action or spectacle films. “Audiences are opening up to different genres of English films,” says Ranjan Singh, head, marketing (worldwide), PVR Pictures, which just released The Twilight Saga: New Moon with over 600 prints.

Paramount Films of India scored with hits like Monsters Vs Aliens and Fast & Furious (below) this year

Take Warner Brothers’s Hangover. It didn’t have big stars but it became a huge hit, grossing Rs 10 crore reportedly.

“The audience is no longer distinguishing between English and Hindi films. If they like the subject and special effects, they’ll come to the movie,” says Kercy Daruwala, managing director, SPE Films India.

Dubbing the films is also widening their appeal. “The concept of dubbed Hollywood films on TV is accepted now. So there’s a market for such films,” adds Tushar Dhingra, COO, Big Cinemas.

Then, there’s the 3D phenomena as shown by Ice Age 3, which became the biggest animation hit from Hollywood. When it released in July, India had 12 3D screens. By Avatar’s release, the tally had risen to 53 as exhibitors converted to ride the Avatar wave. “There’s a change even at the exhibitor level,” says Vijay Singh.

Hollywood’s perfor-mance comes in a year in which Bollywood has fared poorly with biggies from Delhi 6 to Kurbaan flopping. Perhaps the year’s biggest grosser so far is Salman Khan’s Wanted with an estimated domestic GBO of Rs 110 crore. Of course, 2009 hasn’t been good for the movie business with the multiplex strike resulting in a wash-out first half. Then, releases bunched up in the second half, so films were unable to exploit their full theatrical potential.

But the Hollywood studios held their own. Daruwala expects SPE Films India’s total GBO to touch Rs 200 crore this year against 120 crore in 2008 (it did Rs 160 crore in 2007, courtesy Spider-Man 3).

“This has been the biggest year for Sony so far,” says Daruwala. Its other big hits included Terminator Salvation (Rs 19.28 crore) and Angels & Demons (Rs 12.32 crore).

Meanwhile, Fox Star scored with Slumdog Millionaire (Rs 38 crore), X Men Origins: Wolverine (Rs 14 crore) and Ice Age 3 (Rs 9 crore). And that’s not counting Avatar.

Paramount and Warner have had a more modest show. Paramount’s 2009 revenues are down by about 20 per cent over 2008. Its 2009 hits include Fast & Furious (about Rs 22 crore) and Monsters vs Aliens (Rs 4.5 crore). While Warner’s hits include the sixth Harry Potter film and Hangover.

Indian audiences are opening up to 3D animation films like Fox’s Ice Age 3 and even dubbed ones like Sony Pictures’ Angels & Demons (right)

The Hollywood studios aren’t getting carried away by their performance. “This is a product-led business," cautions Daruwala. Adds Sarabjit Singh, general manager, Paramount Films of India: “The local film industry is very strong. Even if we grow by 20 per cent a year, it doesn’t change our share of the total market here.”

Nevertheless, Fox Star’s Vijay Singh says: “There’s a solid underlying growth and solid interest in Hollywood films.”

Players like PVR Pictures, which has distribution tie-ups with independent studios like Summit Entertainment, are ramping up. It will release 25 to 30 English films in 2009 against 10 to 12 today.

Can Hollywood sustain the pace though? Players like Fox Star think so. Vijay Singh says the huge exhibitor interest, as with Avatar, is an indicator. The base is also widening as more theatres are converting to digital and 3D screens. Ranjit Thakur, CEO, Scrabble Entertainment, which is deploying the Hollywood studio- prescribed 2K digitisation standard and 3D screens in India, says the country had 30-odd 2K screens in early 2009. This has risen to 185 screens today, of which 53 are 3D-enabled.

With digitisation, Hollywood studios will bring more content, feels Thakur. “From 2010, I expect almost 100 Hollywood films to be released in India against 60-65 historically. This will mean that the viewer base will increase,” he says.

To be sure, it’s still a product-led business. But even here, Hollywood’s 2010 line-up is sharp. Paramount will release films like Iron Man 2, Shrek 4 and Dreamworks Animation’s 3D, How to Train Your Dragon, next year.

Sony has got Denzil Washington’s Book of Eli, Angelina Jolie’s Salt and Karate Kid. Warner will release Clash of the Titans and the next Harry Potter film. And Disney has films like Toy Story 3. Clearly, English movie fans are in for a bounty.