You’ve By no means Heard of the 12 months’s Largest Fantasy Blockbuster, however It’s Blowing Up on Streaming

A blockbuster fantasy epic is blowing up on streaming, however chances are high, you have by no means heard of it. The Indian Kannada-language movie Kantara: A Legend — Chapter 1 was launched theatrically earlier this 12 months, and as anticipated, it went on to grow to be the nation’s largest field workplace hit of 2025. Kantara: A Legend serves as a prequel to the word-of-mouth sensation Kantara, which was launched in 2022. Set within the forests of the southern Indian area of Karnataka, the movie explored historic traditions and mystical customs. Even for audiences in the identical nation — primarily audiences from the north — the primary Kantara served as a window to a completely unknown neighborhood. By the point the hotly-anticipated prequel debuted, your complete nation was primed to expertise what director-star Rishab Shetty had been cooking for 3 years. Such has been the movie’s impression that it had no issue in breaking into Prime Video’s world charts after its house video debut.

Whereas the fourth season of Netflix’s The Witcher got here and went, the Indian movie landed spots on Prime Video’s world high 10 charts earlier this week. Launched theatrically in October, Kantara: A Legend went on to gross over $100 million on the world field workplace, greater than twice the lifetime haul of its predecessor. The primary movie was a mini-budget blockbuster, grossing round $40 million worldwide. The brand new movie was given a a lot bigger finances. Additionally set within the forests of Karnataka, Kantara: A Legend tells the origins of the magical ritual proven within the earlier film, the ritual that brought on males to vanish right into a mysterious circle within the forest. The movie additionally introduces a number of gods and goddesses referred to as “daivas,” who manifest earlier than the protagonist. In some ways, the movie’s themes of environmentalism, defending one’s cultural identification, and staying true to 1’s roots, make it an ideal companion piece to James Cameron‘s Avatar sequence.

‘Kantara: A Legend’ Has Crushed A number of Hollywood Hits on the Field Workplace

On the 2025 world field workplace charts, Kantara: A Legend has generated extra income than movies resembling Jason Statham‘s A Working Man, the Rami Malek-led espionage thriller The Novice, and even the latest Colleen Hoover adaptation Regretting You. The film opened to principally constructive critiques, and is sitting at an 85% rating on the aggregator web site Rotten Tomatoes. It additionally holds a “verified scorching” 92% viewers rating on the web site, the place the consensus reads, “A spectacularly daring motion epic rooted in folklore, Kantara: A Legend – Chapter 1 is a unprecedented feat of world-building that will have soared even greater with a tighter narrative focus.” You’ll be able to watch the movie (in a number of Indian languages, with the unique being Kannada) on Prime Video, and keep tuned to Collider for extra updates.