Anurag Basu’s big ensemble film ‘Metro… In Dino’ has hit cinemas today on 4th July, 2025. Starring top talents like Aditya Roy Kapur, Sara Ali Khan, Pankaj Tripathi, Konkona Sen Sharma, Ali Fazal, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Anupam Kher, Nina Gupta and Saswata Chatterjee, the film has been in the news for quite some time. Now, its advance booking numbers give us a first real look at how it might fare.A strong cast, but tough competition‘Metro… In Dino’ is seen as a spiritual sequel to Basu’s much-loved film ‘Life In A Metro’. The new film also explores urban stories and tangled relationships, something the first film was praised for.However, it isn’t releasing alone. The film faces direct competition from the Hollywood giant ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’. It also runs alongside holdover hits like ‘F1’, ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’ and ‘Maa’, which still have their audience. Even so, ‘Metro… In Dino’ has got good screens thanks to the curiosity it built before release.Advance booking falls below hopesAccording to a report by Pinkvilla, ‘Metro… In Dino’ has sold around 18,500 tickets across top national chains for its opening day. While that might sound okay, it is actually much lower than what trade experts expected. As the report points out, “the movie should have had double the number of tickets sold for the opening day, if not more; since it is firstly the sequel of an acclaimed film like Life In A Metro, and secondly because it is a pricey film that really requires strong theatrical performance to breakeven.”Eyeing a Rs 3-3.50 crore day 1 collectionThe report further mentions that, going by these bookings, the film is looking at a Rs 3 crore to Rs 3.50 crore net opening in India. The final numbers will depend on spot bookings and how viewers react once shows start. The film will now hope for strong word-of-mouth to boost collections over the weekend. Many of Basu’s past films have slowly won over the audience after release, so there is still a chance this one might pick up in the days ahead.A costly film that needs a big worldwide run‘Metro… In Dino’ has been an expensive affair. As per Pinkvilla, the film was first approved at a budget of Rs 65 crore, but reshoots pushed the cost of production up to Rs 85 crore. Add another Rs 15 crore spent on print and advertising, and the total cost has touched around Rs 100 crore. Luckily, the film has already recovered about Rs 70 crore from non-theatrical revenue. But that still leaves a good chunk to be made from theatres.Needs at least Rs 75 crore worldwide to break evenThe report also explains, the movie needs to gross at least Rs 75 crore worldwide to ensure that the movie doesn’t lose anyone associated with the film, any money. This means it must earn well globally so that the makers get around Rs 30 crore share needed to cover the remaining costs. With its slow start in advance bookings, the film will be banking on audiences to come in through the weekend and beyond.Now, everything rests on how viewers take to ‘Metro… In Dino’. Will they connect with its stories and characters like they did with ‘Life In A Metro’? Or will the strong competition make it harder for the film to grow? With a rich cast and Anurag Basu’s knack for telling human stories, the film still has plenty of promise. But it now needs solid word-of-mouth to make sure it sails smoothly at the box office.
