Following the roaring box office success of Shah Rukh Khan's Pathaan, Yash Raj Films have unveiled their plans to further expand their burgeoning Spy Universe, with the official confirmation of the long-rumored Tiger vs Pathaan, which will team SRK with longtime friend and fellow megastar Salman Khan for an action blockbuster unlike any other.
Variety is reporting that production will commence in early 2024.
No word on the director or potential co-stars, but it's likely that Deepika Padukone (Rubina Mohsin) and Katrina Kaif (Zoya Singh Rathore) will reprise their roles from the Pathaan and Tiger films as well. Fans should also expect to see Ashutosh Rana (Col. Sunil Luthra) again, as he's essentially been established as the Nick Fury of the franchise.
To date, Siddharth Anand's Pathaan, which debuted its Extended Version on Prime Video earlier this week, has grossed over $130 million worldwide, making it the fifth-highest-grossing Indian film of all time. It's recently been confirmed for a release in China, Japan, and Latin America, so its final gross should be considerably higher and there is a strong possibility the film will ultimately surpass S. S. Rajamouli's RRR ($160M), possibly even challenging Aamir Khan's Dangal ($311M) for the top spot.
The YRF Spy Universe was formally launched with Pathaan, but technically began in 2012 with Kabir Khan's Ek Tha Tiger, which introduced Salman Khan's Avinash Singh Rathore, a.k.a. Tiger, to the world. That film was followed by the 2017 sequel Tiger Zinda Hai and then, 2019's War starring Hrithik Roshan (Maj. Kabir Dhaliwal), and, of course, the aforementioned Pathaan, which brought SRK and Padukone into the mix and featured Salman Khan in an extended cameo.
The next chapter arrives this Diwali (November 10) with Tiger 3, which will return both Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif, with Emraan Hashmi playing the villain. Shah Rukh Khan will also feature in an extended cameo, a sequence that was briefly teased in Pathaan.
Whether Roshan factors into this one - or the epic Tiger vs Pathaan crossover - remains to be seen, but YRF seems to be quite bullish on their Spy Universe as YRF exec Akshaye Widhani recently revealed to the trade that, “I would say 50% of our theatrical slate would be the spy universe, big screen spectacles, and 50% of it would be high concept, high on content films.”
With the global success of both Pathaan and the Oscar-winning RRR, the demand for these blockbuster Indian action extravaganzas has never been higher and it's believed Tiger vs Pathaan will be the most expensive Indian film ever produced, so the anticipation for the film's arrival is going to reach unprecedented heights long before its projected 2025 release date rolls around.
In other news, Shah Rukh Khan has reportedly wrapped his other upcoming actioner Jawan, which is still scheduled to open on June 10.