After much deliberation, Salman Khan’s Maatrubhumi has locked December 4 as its theatrical release date. The announcement sets the stage for an interesting box-office clash, with films starring Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan arriving in cinemas in the same month. Salman initially planned to release Maatrubhumi on November 20, but “that left too little time for promotions”.

“It would have also cut short the box-office run of Ramayana: Rise Of A Legend. Salman wanted the film to have a month-long run window,” informs a trade source.

While one hurdle is out of the way, the new release date is expected to throw up distribution challenges. Trade analysts believe screen allocation could become tricky, particularly as Maatrubhumi will now compete with Shraddha Kapoor’s Eetha.

Interestingly, Jio distributes both films, making the screen-sharing dynamics more complicated. “It is a tightrope. Eetha has buzz, but Maatrubhumi is a Salman Khan film which will be a massy release,” says trade analyst Taran Adarsh.

Screen allocation aside, December is already packed with big-ticket releases. “It’s a problem of surplus,” Adarsh says. “World over big films release in the Christmas month. There’s a 19-day gap between Shah Rukh Khan’s King [December 24] and Maatrubhumi which is a big enough gap. Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three are both releasing [on December 18], but the target audience of the two films are different. Salman’s film will have a stronger presence in single screens and the rest depends on the movie itself. The film has a timely anti-war message which will echo with everyone given the ramifications of war the world is facing,” he explains.