Sony's animated mythological adventure "Ramayana: Rise of a Legend" made history by becoming the first Indian feature ever to debut atop the U.K. and Ireland box office, collecting £2.1 million ($2.8 million) in its opening weekend and leading a crowded slate of new releases, according to Variety.

India Today reports the film opened across 361 cinemas at an average of £5,951 per cinema, with its total including £435,875 earned through previews at 337 locations.

Distributed by Sony Pictures and produced by Namit Malhotra and Yash, the Nitesh Tiwari-directed epic topped the chart for the weekend of November 6–8.

Until now, the highest position an Indian film had reached in the U.K. and Ireland was second place — a ceiling held jointly by S.S. Rajamouli's "RRR" in 2022, Shah Rukh Khan's "Pathaan" and "Jawan" in 2023, and Ranveer Singh's "Dhurandhar: The Revenge" earlier this year, as Variety notes.

The animated Ramayana finally broke through that barrier, pushing past a competitive weekend field to claim the top spot outright. India Today highlights that the film achieved the feat across 361 cinemas, making the milestone a broad commercial result rather than a narrow event-screening spike.

The Indian epic pushed Anime Ltd.'s "Godzilla Minus Zero" into third place in the territory, Variety reports. Disney's "Wild Horse Nine" took second in its opening frame, while Takashi Yamazaki's monster movie claimed third.

The contest carried over to the worldwide chart, where Deadline reports "Godzilla Minus Zero" was No. 1 at the global weekend box office with $63 million — meaning the two event titles traded blows depending on the territory.

In the U.K. and Ireland, Ramayana's £2.14 million edged both, per India Today's figures from the British Film Institute.

The international milestone comes as the film towers at home.

Deadline reports the Diwali event movie has passed the century mark worldwide with a running global total of $101.9 million, including $67.1 million from India, after opening to a Diwali-record $55.7 million with more than 11 million tickets sold globally.

The Times of India's day-by-day tracking shows the film crossed Rs 511 crore net in India in seven days, headlined by a stunning Monday surge to Rs 107.50 crore — a 91.5% jump over Sunday.

The Open Press reports Day 8 pushed domestic net collections past ₹534 crore, with worldwide gross approaching the ₹1,000 crore milestone.

The run has been powered by strong word of mouth during the Diwali festive season, according to The Times of India, which notes collections rebounded after a second-day dip and kept climbing through the holidays.

Deadline reports the film scores 94% with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes and earned a five-star PostTrak exit.

Starring Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita and Yash as Ravana — with Sunny Deol as Hanuman — the multi-language release has drawn audiences across markets, The Open Press reports, with Hindi the strongest domestic contributor.

The international rollout is still expanding.

India Today reports the film releases in Hong Kong, Mexico and parts of Central Asia on November 12, followed by Brazil, Italy, Ukraine and Hungary on November 19, Poland on November 20, and Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and other Latin American territories on November 26, with Sony Pictures International handling distribution abroad.

Deadline notes Tiwari's "Dangal" remains the highest-grossing Indian movie of all time at $303.7 million worldwide — a benchmark the new epic can now chase as it heads toward the ₹1,000 crore global mark.