Before the COVID-19 pandemic, big-budget films were seen as high-risk but also high-reward ventures. Many of these movies ran in theaters for nearly 50 days, attracting all kinds of audiences generating massive collections.
However, after the pandemic, the theatrical run of big films has noticeably declined, and their box office performance has become unpredictable.
In 2025, several high-profile Telugu films like Game Changer, Hari Hara Veera Mallu, and War 2 were released with huge expectations and business deals, but they ended up as major failures, causing heavy losses for distributors and buyers.
Telugu Big-Budget Films’ Impact Changed after COVID-1 Pandemic
Even other big films such as Daaku Maharaaj, Coolie, OG, and Kantara Chapter 1 managed only to reach near the break-even figures, without delivering significant profits.
Interestingly, films with medium budgets are showing mixed results as some of them are profitable, while others face losses. But when it comes to big-budget films, the trend after COVID shows that they are more likely to result in losses than profits, making them a risky bet for the industry
