Produced on an estimated budget of ₹570 crore (US$80 million), 2.0 is the most expensive Indian film to date. Production began in 2015, with principal photography conducted at AVM Studios later that year. The first schedule was filmed at EVP World. Scenes were primarily shot in India, particularly in Chennai's Madras Boat Club and Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Filming was completed by August 2017. The film is the first in Indian cinema to be natively shot in 3D, which was done by cinematographer Nirav Shah. Legacy Effects made their return to construct prosthetic makeup and animatronics, with visual effects supervised by V. Srinivas Mohan. Editing was handled by Anthony and production design was conducted by T. Muthuraj.
2.0 was released worldwide in both 3D and conventional format on 29 November 2018, along with its dubbed versions in Hindi and Telugu. It received generally positive reviews upon release. Critics particularly praised the film's visual effects, performances of Rajinikanth and Kumar, and social message; the pace and screenplay received criticism. It earned ₹117.34 crore (US$16 million) worldwide on its first day, which was the second highest ever for an Indian film. The film crossed ₹520 crore (US$73 million) in its opening weekend to be the highest-grossing film worldwide for that week. 2.0 is the second highest-grossing film in India and is the fifth highest-grossing Indian film worldwide.
2.0 was released in about 6900 screens in India and over 2000 screens overseas. On its opening day, 2.0 earned about ₹80 crore (US$11 million) gross collection in India (all versions), which was the second highest ever for an Indian film after Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017)'s ₹154 crore (equivalent to ₹161 crore or US$23 million in 2018).This was around ₹ 64 crore nett.Its worldwide gross was over ₹117.34 crore (US$16 million), which was also the second highest worldwide collection for an Indian film on its first day after Baahubali 2.On its second day, the film went on to be number one at the Australian box office.In Malaysia, the film had an all-time highest opening for any Tamil film.On its second day, the film earned around ₹ 45 crore nett in India.The all-India business of 2.0 increased to ₹ 56–57 crore nett on Saturday (the third day) owing to positive word-of-mouth in North India, while the collections in South India saw a minor drop.Its all-India total increased to ₹ 165.5 crore nett.On its third day, the film earned around ₹290 crore (US$41 million) worldwide in all languages, including ₹85 crore (US$12 million) from overseas markets.
At the American box office, the film surpassed the lifetime business of Rajinikanth's previous film Lingaa (2014) in just two days. The film debuted at number 11 at the American box office, earning $4.09 million.The screen count was increased from 20 to 75 in Pakistan on its second day to meet the demand. 2.0 grossed US$14.75 million (₹ 1.03 billion) in first five days in overseas markets.On its fourth day, a Sunday, business picked up over India, which led the film to accumulate an opening weekend collection of around ₹400 crore (US$56 million), the highest amount earned by any film in the week of 29 November to 2 December, ahead of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018).Collections in India, discounting overseas, were ₹291 crore (equivalent to ₹305 crore or US$43 million in 2018) gross (₹ 229 crore nett) in all languages.[110] This pushed it ahead of Enthiran, which was the previous highest-grossing film from Tamil cinema with an earning of ₹ 205 crore nett in India.In its four-day opening weekend, the film opened at number one at the United Arab Emirates box office, earning $2.5 million, ahead of Creed II (2018).
On its fifth day, the film earned around ₹451 crore (US$56 million) worldwide in all languages, including ₹114 crore (US$16 million) from international markets.In North India, its Hindi version earned around ₹111 crore (US$16 million).Along with the sixth day business of ₹ 24 crore nett, the film earned ₹ 282.31 crore nett in India. It did record business in the southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. By the end of seven days, the film earned ₹480 crore (US$67 million) worldwide, which included ₹362 crore (US$51 million) in India and US$15 million (₹ 1.18 billion) in overseas markets.The extended first week worldwide collection was ₹520 crore (US$73 million).
