YRF Spy Universe: India’s most successful film franchise smashes records

Entertainment: Whereas film franchises are seen as a part of Hollywood life, the Indians adopted this concept very recently. For the last twenty years or so, all these cinematic universes and sequels dominated the box offices and produced some of the biggest blockbusters in the history of Indian cinema. Among them, one such franchise has emerged as the top-grossing film franchise in India.

YRF Spy Universe: The record breaker

The YRF Spy Universe, a flagship creation of Aditya Chopra's leadership at Yash Raj Films, stands as the top-grossing film franchise of India. These five films, together, have grossed over ₹2900 crore worldwide. The highest ever is Shah Rukh Khan's Pathaan, which brought in ₹1050 crore to the global collection. Salman Khan's Tiger trilogy contributed ₹1366 crore for three films, and Hrithik Roshan's War added another ₹475 crore to the unbelievable total.

The YRF Spy Universe is a series of standalone films based on super spies, connected through crossovers and cameos. Although the franchise started retroactively with Ek Tha Tiger in 2012, the connections between films were only established during the pandemic. The universe was brought together by the 2023 release of Pathaan, and the storyline was further expanded by Tiger 3, which was released later that year.

How the Spy Universe outpaced rivals

Before the Spy Universe took the spotlight, the Baahubali franchise was the highest-grossing film series in India, having grossed more than ₹2300 crore from just two films. Other notable franchises include Pushpa (₹2000 crore from two films), KGF (₹1500 crore), and Rohit Shetty's Cop Universe (₹1430 crore).

The Spy Universe’s advantage lies in its multi-pronged approach. Unlike single-film sequels, this universe weaves standalone stories together, leveraging the massive fanbases of stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Hrithik Roshan. While the Cop Universe shows potential, the star power behind the Spy Universe remains unmatched.

The future of the YRF Spy Universe

The franchise shows no signs of slowing down. In 2025, the YRF Spy Universe will cross ₹4000 crore with two major releases. October will witness the return of Hrithik Roshan in War 2, as he battles it out with Jr NTR in a pan-India spectacle. December will see YRF release Alpha, its first female-led spy film starring Alia Bhatt and Sharvari.