PVR Pictures, the movie distribution arm of multiplex operator PVR Ltd, will be releasing over 30 titles this year, including Hollywood, Bollywood and regional titles.
The number of releases this year is slightly higher than the 27 films that PVR Pictures released in FY20.
"For foreign language films, we would be releasing 15 titles over the next 12 months. Then we would be releasing around eight to nine Hindi films. As for Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada again about seven to eight films we will be releasing," said Kamal Gianchandani, CEO, PVR Pictures, while giving a breakup of Hollywood and Indian titles.
The number of foreign-language films is higher this year as international markets, like the US and Europe, are in a tough spot, he added.
"Keeping this in mind, some of the international films will struggle to find release dates, especially in their home markets. So, we have concentrated more and taken more foreign titles so that we can plug the gap."
According to reports, only 35 percent of US cinemas are open due to the coronavirus impact. Cineworld, the second largest global cinema chain with 660 cinemas in the US and UK, temporarily shut shop in October last year.
In cinemas near you soon
PVR Pictures 2021 release slate includes titles like The Personal History of David Copperfield, The Secret Garden, Our Friend, Misbehavior, The War With Grandpa, Sooryavanshi and 83, among others.
Gianchandani pointed out that Hollywood films tend to generate lower revenues as compared to Bollywood films. "If we look at commercial films like Sooryavanshi, 83, the business potential is skewed towards Indian films."
Money spent on movies
Talking about investments, while Gianchandani did not share how much PVR Pictures will be spending this year on content, in an earlier interview with Moneycontrol he had said that the company spends in the range of Rs 25 crore-Rs 30 crore every year for Hollywood content, Rs 30 crore-50 crore for Hindi films and between Rs 15 crore-20 crore on regional content.
As for this year, Gianchandani said he could not share precise investment numbers as distribution is a working capital business. However, he said, "In 2019-20 our topline was Rs 135 crore and we expect to exceed that in 2021-22."
Will 2021 be a hit year for theatres after a flop show in 2020?
When it comes to the theatrical business, Gianchandani said that while film releases will be slow to pick up in the April-June period, "by the time we get into July-September you will find multiple films releasing on the same day."
"Numbers that cinemas will throw for FY21-22 will surpass expectations and this is because some recent releases like Master even with 50 percent capacity have done exceedingly well. These are the signals that show that people will come back in big numbers. Frequency of people going to cinemas will be at a much higher level because of the pent-up demand," he said.
According to a report by Elara Capital, the entire cinema ecosystem turned profitable with the success of south superstar Vijay's Master, which on its home turf has collected more than Rs 194 crore. Single screens which were having a tough time due to lack of content opened up in large numbers with the release of Master.
Almost 60 percent of single screens are in south India, and for Master 95 percent collection in the domestic market came from down south, with Tamil Nadu contributing 64 percent of overall business.
There should be quite a few films coming up from next month starting with Janhvi Kapoor and Rajkumar Rao's Roohi , which is slated for release on March 11.
"For March and April, we are expecting a lot of films. By the end of February, there will be more announcements. There is Ajay Devgn's Maidaan in Dussehra, Salman Khan's Radhe and John Abraham's Satyameva Jayate 2 during Eid, Aamir Khan's film will release during Christmas this year. Rajinikanth has a film coming in the next financial year in the third quarter. Lot of films are looking for dates," said Gianchandani.
Dearth of content has been one of the major struggles for exhibitors who were hit hard due to the coronavirus-led lockdown that kept cinemas shut for as long as seven months.
Even after theatres got the go-ahead to reopen, it was only at 50 percent capacity due to which producers of big Bollywood films did not opt for releases.
Theatres got the green light to operate at 100 percent capacity from February this year. So far a few states such as West Bengal, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka have allowed theatres to operate at full capacity.
Film trade analysts expect that most of the key states will allow 100 percent capacity in theatres by March. And this should lead to many more films being released this year.
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