Hollywood v. Bollywood

Spider-Man 3 grossed $4.5 in its first weekend, the highest ever for a foreign movie in India and the movie is set to exceed the $13 million total box office gross of Titanic, the highest for a foreign film in India.

Bollywood enjoys a near monopoly in India and foreign films account for less than 5 percent of $1 billion in theater tickets.

However, last year the James Bond film Casino Royale released simultaneously in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu with 400 prints set a first weekend record for a foreign film. Until then, dubbed versions were released only after the English run was complete. Spider-Man 3 upped the ante, released in several regional dialects on 600 screens nationwide.

Although Bollywood sells more tickets worldwide than the rest of the world combined, Bollywood’s global revenues are just 2 percent of Hollywood’s.