Latest Bollywood venture Sooryavanshi, starring Akshay Kumar, will have a wide release both in India and abroad on November 5 after reopening of theatres in major markets and states on easing restriction on seating capacity.
The film will hit 3,500 screens across India and 1,200 screens overseas. With a total of 4,700 screens, taking the screen count to the pre-COVID levels.
Compare this with pre-COVID Bollywood ventures Stalman Khan-starrer Bharat, Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff-starrer War and Akshay Kumar’s Housefull 4 with respective screen counts of 4,650; 3,850; and 3,900.
Akshay’s recent offering Bell Bottom that had hit theatres on August 19 had released across 1,500-1,800 screens, half the number of screens of what such a large film would have seen in pre-COVID times. The limited release was due to the staggered reopening of theatres in the country.
Bollywood ventures that released last year like Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari and Kiara Advani's Indoo Ki Jawani had released in around 1,000 screens.
Riding on Sooryavanshi, the film industry sees some recovery in terms of screen count which is also making the sector bet big on the venture’s box office collections.
According to analyst Karan Taurani, Senior Vice-President, Elara Capital, Sooryavanshi is estimated to collect Rs 60-70 crore in the first weekend.
“Net lifetime box office collection will likely be in Rs 120-140-crore range. These collection numbers are still around 30 percent lower versus pre-COVID levels due to timing restriction and occupancy cap in some states and some section of the audience taking more time to return to the cinemas,” Taurani said.
As many as eight markets have allowed theatres to operate at full capacity, including Rajasthan, Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Gujarat, Delhi NCR and Uttar Pradesh.
Taurani said that the success of the two large tent pole films Sooryavanshi and Rajinikanth and Nayanthara-starrer Annaatthe releasing during Diwali will result in a sharp rebound in the cinema business as most large states have allowed 100 percent occupancy and are easing the timing restrictions.
“Due to this, we expect the theatrical window to revive to six to eight weeks from four weeks by the end of FY22. Also, the distributor share arrangement may return to the pre-COVID levels in the coming months, which will positively impact profitability,” he said.
Annaatthe is estimated to breach Rs 100-crore mark in terms of collections. This year, another Tamil venture Master which had released in January had scored a century with gross box office revenue of Rs 190 crore.
The buzz for the upcoming Diwali releases is strong, which is resulting in good response for the advance bookings of Hollywood venture Eternals, Sooryavanshi and Annaatthe.
Ashish Saksena, COO – Cinemas, BookMyShow, said that while early signs are positive for the three films, Rajinikanth’s Annaatthe is seeing better traction amid the audience in terms of advance bookings.
“It’s no surprise that Annaatthe is ruling the charts on the advance bookings as seen on BookMyShow. The film’s advance bookings are neck-to-neck with that of superstar Vijay’s blockbuster Master that released during Pongal 2021, breaking all records. This has set a robust tone for Annaatthe’s overall business expectations, Saksena told Moneycontrol.
He said that the advance sales for all the three films are extremely brisk with both The Eternals and Sooryavanshi showing strength despite all screens fully not opening for these films yet.
Top multiplex chains, including PVR, INOX and Cinepolis, have not yet opened the advance booking for Sooryavanshi due to disagreement over higher distributor share.
In terms of markets, cities like Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Mumbai have seen highest advance bookings so far. “This shows the strong demand for Diwali movie releases across the breadth of the country,” Saksena said.
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