Akshay Kumar's box office ledger since the pandemic reads like a graph with one long dip and a late uptick. Seventeen theatrical releases, a combined worldwide gross of 2371.32 crore, and now a Friday release riding on a director reunion rather than trailer buzz. That's the shape of the story going into Haiwaan.

According to a tally compiled by Koimoi, Akshay is 128.68 crore short of touching 2500 crore in cumulative post-COVID collections. Haiwaan, which brings him back with Priyadarshan after years apart, opens September 11. Koimoi's own read on the film is blunt: low on buzz going in, with any real push dependent on word-of-mouth once it's out.

The road to 2371 crore

The run started strong. Sooryavanshi pulled in 291.14 crore, the kind of number that made a post-lockdown comeback look easy. It wasn't. Bachchhan Paandey managed 73.29 crore, Samrat Prithviraj 90.24 crore, Raksha Bandhan 63.35 crore, Ram Setu 83.02 crore. Selfiee barely moved the needle at 23.97 crore.

OMG 2 broke the slump, crossing 220 crore globally and giving the phase its one real high point before Mission Raniganj came in at a modest 42.18 crore. Then came a stretch of small-to-mid performers: Bade Miyan Chote Miyan at 111.88 crore, Sarfira at 33.17 crore, Khel Khel Mein at 56.02 crore, Sky Force at 174.21 crore, Kesari Chapter 2 at 145.73 crore.

Housefull 5 arrived with genuine heat and delivered, grossing 304.12 crore worldwide, his best post-COVID number. Jolly LLB 3 added 170.26 crore and Bhooth Bangla brought in 292.64 crore. Welcome To The Jungle, his most recent outing, closed at 196.1 crore and pushed the cumulative total past 2350 crore.

Add it up and you get 2371.32 crore across those 17 films, per Koimoi's numbers. Two of his most recent releases landing as hits is the reason 2026 looks like a turnaround year on paper, even if the years before it were rough.

Now the question is whether Haiwaan can do the rest of the work. It doesn't need to be a blockbuster. A number in the 130 crore range, roughly what Kesari Chapter 2 or Sky Force managed, would be enough to tip Akshay over 2500 crore in his post-pandemic career total. Given the film is going in without much heat, that number depends entirely on how audiences react once they've actually seen it.

The Priyadarshan pairing gives it a reason to be watched closely on opening weekend. Whether that curiosity converts into ticket sales, and whether word-of-mouth holds up past Friday, will decide if Akshay gets there with this film or has to wait for the next one.