War 2 Faces Uphill Battle in U.S. Pre-Sales as Hype Falls Short

War 2 is coming soon. Directed by Ayan Mukerji and starring Hrithik Roshan and Jr. NTR and Kiara Advani have run into a problem in the U. S. Sure! Please provide the text you want me to rewrite, and I’ll help you with that. The film is releasing on August 14, 2025. But the first shows in North America are not doing well. So people are talking about how the film is releasing and what to expect from it. Despite having a big star cast and Yash Raj Films’ Spy Universe backing, War 2 is not doing as well in pre-bookings as its competitors, especially Rajinikanth’s Coolie.

Disappointing Pre-Sale Numbers

According to box office tracking sources, War 2 has made around $230,000 in total North America advance sales as of August 6, 2025, with $213,545 from the US alone across 652 locations, 1,739 shows and 8,117 tickets sold. This is a 73% growth in the last 24 hours and a record for an Indian film to cross $100,000 in pre-sales in 7 hours. But overall numbers are still way below expectations for a film of this scale. For context, War 2’s US premiere pre-sales are far behind Coolie, which has already crossed $1 million with over 35,000 tickets sold across 1,147 shows.

Earlier reports were even more dire. War 2 was grossing just $13,280 across 279 locations and 608 shows 16 days before its release, less than smaller Telugu films like Tillu Square and Sudigadu, which were doing better at the same stage. Now it has shown some improvement, pre-sales are at $147,000 12 days out, but the momentum is slowing down and it’s looking difficult to hit $1 million before release.

A Flawed Release Strategy

Industry experts and fans are pointing out the release strategy as the main reason for War 2’s poor pre-sales. Unlike most Bollywood films, which open in the US a day after their Indian release (usually on Saturdays), War 2 opted for a Wednesday release to cash in on the Telugu audience’s love for Jr. NTR. But it seems that didn’t work out.

The film’s marketing has been all about the Hindi commercial appeal and has positioned Hrithik Roshan as the main hero, which may have alienated the Telugu audience who were expecting more of Jr. NTR. The teasers and trailers have been panned for being too much of CGI and spy thriller tone and haven’t generated the same buzz as Jr. NTR’s previous US hit Devara. 83% of War 2’s US pre-sales have come from the Telugu belt, which shows Jr. NTR’s pull but also the film’s struggle to attract Hindi audience who are walk-in theatergoers and don’t book tickets in advance.

Not promoting Hrithik Roshan and Jr. NTR together to maintain the suspense has also been questioned. The “less is more” approach was to build the anticipation but may have left the audience confused and disengaged. “You know how sometimes you plan a party but forget to send the invites?” one report quipped, summing up the film’s promotional missteps.

Comparison to Competitors

The head to head with Coolie has only exposed War 2’s struggles. Coolie’s trailer was released on August 2, 2025, and created massive hype and became the fastest Tamil film to reach $1 million in North America pre-sales in 11 days before release. War 2 is lagging behind not only Coolie but also other big films like Kalki 2898 AD, which got $1.06 million in pre-sales in 13 days and Leo, which got $1.86 million.

War 2 has done better than smaller films like Daaku Maharaaj ($70.3K) and even Sikandar in pre-sales, but failing to keep up with big films raises questions about its box office potential. The reported 400 crore budget with Hrithik Roshan getting ₹50 crore plus profits and Jr. NTR ₹70 crore adds to the pressure to open big.

Can War 2 Recover?

Things look bad, but War 2 still has a chance. 8 days to go for the film to release. If YRF promotes it more, it can still become a hit. Hrithik Roshan and Jr. NTR and YRF Spy Universe films like Pathaan and Tiger 3 can attract more audience and boost the box office numbers after the release.

The film has a tough task to live up to the expectations of the previous film, War (2019) and also compete with Coolie. To be successful, War 2 needs to fix its marketing mistakes, tell the Hindi and Telugu audience what will attract them and provide a script that matches the expectations. A Reddit user said, “Only a good script can fix this.”

Right now, War 2’s pre-sales in the US shows that chances were missed and the audience was not understood. It’s unclear if it can make a difference before August 14th but time is running out for this spy thriller to get back in action.