The Devil Week 1 box office: Darshan-starrer has massive slump after first weekend

Challenging Star Darshan Thoogudeepa’s The Devil has had a week at the box office and after a stupendous Day 1 opening, collections dropped, but the first weekend was still decent for the Prakash Veer directorial. A big opening was anyway expected, given the fan following that the actor enjoys and that the team had released the film with hiked ticket rates, ranging from Rs 300 to Rs 1,200. The real test came on the first Monday, which, according to trade tracker sacnilk saw the film make Rs 1.45 cr only. It slid further down on Day 6 and Day 7, the film registered its first sub Rs 1 cr total.

The Devil unlikely to break even?

The tracker estimates that The Devil’s worldwide gross is around Rs 29 cr after the first week. The film has held on to most of its theatres, especially single screens, even though Akhanda 2 came out and Avatar 3 releases on December 19. Considering that the distributor of The Devil is also handling Arjun Janya’s 45, Darshan’s film will likely lose prime screens by Christmas. That is still another week for the film to make some ground in recovering its budget, which is estimated to have blown up to about Rs 50-60 cr, owing to the delays in its production.

How much of a dent the film can make in week 2 remains to be seen, considering that the film received largely average and below average reviews. The production house has claimed far better box office results, but refrained from providing OTTplay with exact figures. The film, which released in theatres in Darshan’s absence, had the actor in dual roles, as both protagonist and antagonist. However, the film’s length and the middling story were cited as major dampeners.

Also read: The Devil movie review: Darshan vs Darshan in outdated snooze-fest tale of power and love 

At the time of the film’s theatrical release, it did not have a satellite or OTT partner on board. The film will likely head to Zee5, although Sun NXT is also in the reckoning. The one-time go-to platform for all Kannada films, Amazon Prime Video has drastically cut down on the Kannada films added to its library, with Kantara Chapter 1 and Brat among the more recent ones.

The Devil FAQs

Q. What was Darshan Thoogudeepa's last release?

A. Darshan Thoogudeepa was last seen onscreen in 2023's Kaatera , which is available on Z5 (via OTTplay Premium also).

Q. What is Darshan's new film?

A. Darshan's new film is The Devil, which has him reuniting with Tarak maker Prakash Veer. The film had been announced as a December 12, 2025 release, but was then advanced by a day. The film has released in the actor's absence, as he is currently in jail in connection with the Renukaswamy murder case.

Q. List the cast of The Devil

A. The Devil is led by Darshan Thoogudeepa, who is paired with Rachana Rai. The film also stars Mahesh Manjrekar, Achyuth Kumar, Vinay Gowda, Chandu B Gowda, among many others.