Baahubali 2: The Conclusion

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is a runaway hit, but it’s not the only sequel outpacing its predecessor right now. Two weeks ago, Indian action epic Baahubali 2: The Conclusion became the highest-grossing film ever in that country’s history. Nearly three and a half hours long, it’s a historical CGI fantasy about two cousins vying for a throne. You learn right away that one cousin killed the other one, and then you spend many hours learning why. RogerEbert.com is the only major American outlet that bothered to review it. (They gave it four stars.) To quote critic Simon Abrams, “it’s loud, it’s gory, and there are musical numbers.” Despite an almost total absence of marketing, it’s also the highest-grossing Indian release ever in the United States.