Superstar Salman Khan-starrer ‘Tiger 3’ has “phenomenal” advance booking and is expected to earn close to Rs 40 crore (Rs. 400 million) on the first day of its release on Diwali, says Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, Executive Director of multiplex chain PVR INOX Ltd.

The Yash Raj Films project, directed by Maneesh Sharma, is a sequel to the 2017 film ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’ and releases on November 12. The advance booking for the film, also starring Katrina Kaif and Emraan Hashmi, opened on November 5.

According to PVR INOX, the chain has sold about 1.80 lakh (180,000) tickets of  ‘Tiger 3’ for the first weekend, which is from Sunday to Thursday. More than one lakh (100,000) tickets have been sold for day one in over 1000 screens of PVR INOX across the country, Bijli said, according to a PTI report from Mumbai.

“Diwali is on Sunday and we have a massive film ‘Tiger 3’ with Salman Khan releasing. The advances are phenomenal. It’s all right on trend, as we expect as far as the Diwali release is concerned,” Bijli told PTI in an interview.

“Traditionally, Diwali has been a very important and a highly coveted date for producers to release their films. For decades, big films have been released on Diwali and almost all of them end up doing well as that is a time when people are out and about, the disposable income is available to entertain themselves,” he added.

Since the spy-action thriller opens on Diwali and coincides with a cricket match between India and Netherlands, Bijli believes it may cause a “dent” in the sales of ‘Tiger 3’ on day one.

“Audiences find their kind of time, if they don’t come on Sunday then they come on Monday or Tuesday, which are also holidays. Keeping all of this in mind, I think the industry expectation for this film is Rs 40 crore, which is a big number,” he added.

According to Bijli, cinema chains register about a 20 to 25 per cent jump in business during holiday and festive season.

“During the holiday period, you clearly see a jump of about 20 to 25 percent in the admissions and box office numbers and that depends on how well the film does,” he said.

According to the multiplex chain, the advance ticket sales of ‘Tiger 3’ in the next three days is expected to cross over six lakh for the first weekend (Sunday to Thursday) with over three lakh on the first day itself.