PVR and INOX, the merged entity, have announced plans to invest around Rs 500 crore in expanding their screen portfolio by adding 175 screens in the next financial year, according to Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, Executive Director of PVR Limited.
He stated that they aim to add 150-175 screens annually for the next three years, with a focus on both Tier I and Tier II/III cities. While 40 percent of the new screens will be located in Tier I cities, there are numerous opportunities to establish organized multiplexes in areas such as Hubli and Machilipatnam in southern India, where there are currently none.
Bijli said that the next set of screen additions are coming from the INOX stable with 14 screen launches in Pune and Bengaluru each, and another 12 screens in Bengaluru. "These are the 3-4 big superplexes planned in the coming year," he added.
After the merger, PVR INOX launched first property in Lucknow's Lulu Mall which is an 11-screen superplex. The company invested Rs 40 crore in the new property.
"We have three operating sites with them (Lulu Group) in Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Lucknow. We are hoping to continue this partnership. Lot of developments are being discussed but nothing concrete yet," said Bijli.
Along with screen expansion, the merged entity expects uptick in ad revenues. "As a merged entity seeing more interest from advertisers. The merged entity will have a combined footfall of almost 180 million people a year across the chain and this number will be visible to brands and advertisers," the Executive Director said.
He added that while the how much the merged entity can attract footfalls is yet to be assessed, he is confident about the industry at large.
"There's been dip in footfalls but we were open only for 11 months and had a clear run only since February last year. And footfalls are only 20-25 percent lower versus pre-Covid level. Yet we have big green shoots like Pathaan, Brahmastra, PS-I, RRR."
He said that things are recalibrating. "Hollywood studios have already recalibrated their strategy. Two tears back Disney had decided to put six movies directly on streaming but that did not turn out profitable and then they decided to bring all films on theatrical. It was the same with Warner Bros, Paramount. There was a time when they did not have an option but now people are saying that this is one revenue stream we cannot ignore."
Bijli said that both footfalls and advertising revenue will go back to pre-Covid levels in FY24. "Since November with Drishyam 2 to Avatar 2 in December and Pathaan in January, every month there has been a big film which has done exceedingly well. The appetite of watching movies is there. There is some tweaking of content needed from film industry's side."
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