MIMI LEAKS ONLINE; FILMS TO FINALLY RELEASE IN CINEMAS FROM FRIDAY, JULY 30!

A lot of films have made their way online since the lockdown started in March 2020. Mimi, which was supposed to release on July 30, seemed like any other digital release. However, in the afternoon of Monday, July 26, media, trade and industry got shock when it came to light that the film leaked on the internet! With no other option, the film’s release was preponed and it came out on Netflix and Jio Cinema on the same day in the evening! Thankfully, the film got glorious reviews from all quarters and it took away a lot of negativity. But this sort of incident scared everyone.

There are reports that Netflix has not taken this breach lightly and has decided to renegotiate the remuneration that it was offering to the producers. Thus, from now on, every producer would remain doubly cautious because a leak could lead to a lesser pay for them from the streaming giants.

Mimi stars Kriti Sanon in the leading role along with Pankaj Tripathi and Sai Tamhankar. It is directed by Laxman Utekar, who last made Luka Chuppi, one of the surprise hits of 2019. The film is a story of a girl aspiring to be an actress who decides to go for surrogacy to earn quick bucks. Almost everyone was unanimous that had this film been released in cinemas, it would have been a huge success. But imagine if Mimi had leaked 4 days before its theatrical release? The damage would have been devastating. With a digital release, Netflix could at least immediately put it out so that as many viewers as possible could view the film legitimately.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros decided last weekend that they’ll start releasing their films in cinemas. Ideally, any studio would want that both the key centres – Mumbai and Delhi – should have cinemas operational and only then it makes sense to release a film. But the government in Maharashtra is going slow with the reopening. Hence, hoping that Mumbai would open up soon is not a great idea. Hence, everyone was hoping that at least the Delhi government would restart theatres since the cases there are negligible. The studios waited a lot and finally, Warner decided that they’ll release some of its films even if Delhi is shut. Thankfully for them, the Delhi government on Saturday, July 24, gave the go-ahead to cinemas to reopen from July 26.

Now only Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are the key markets that are shut. The first film that’ll be released is Mortal Kombat, on Friday, July 30. It did release in India on April 23 but only in South India as the rest of the country was shut. This time it’ll be released in places where it didn’t last time but only in English and Hindi. This would be followed by the release of The Suicide Squad. It is releasing on August 5, the same day as it releases in the USA and other markets. Finally, the horror film The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It will be released on August 13, in Independence Day week.

Today, Universal Pictures announced that Fast & Furious 9 would storm into cinemas on August 19. It is a big film and it’ll, however, make it to the big screen only if Mumbai is open. Hence, the exhibitors are still hoping that the Maharashtra government would understand their grievances and finally give the much needed go ahead.

RADHE’S HYBRID RELEASE PLANS STUNS THE INDUSTRY
 
Almost all Hindi films scheduled for release in April have been pushed ahead as the second wave of Coronavirus has wreaked havoc. Now all eyes were on the releases in May. There was buzz that the much awaited Salman Khan starrer, Radhe, would also be pushed ahead. After all, it’s a big film and with theatres shut in most parts of the country, it won’t be able to do the desired business.
 
Shockingly, yesterday, the makers announced that Radhe would release as scheduled on May 13, on Ramzan Eid. However, it’ll have a hybrid release. It means that it’ll release in theatres and simultaneously on ZeePlex as well. ZeePlex is a pay-per-view platform. It's different from say a Netflix or Amazon Prime where one pays a subscription fee for a month or a year and can then enjoy all the content available on the platform for that period. In the case of ZeePlex, one needs to pay in order to watch a particular film. Also, one needs to see it within a stipulated time, that is within 12 or 24 hours of paying for the film.
 
Hollywood has adopted this model and is doing well. In fact, Warner Bros has been similarly releasing all its films in cinemas and also on its pay-per-view platform, HBO Max, in North America (USA and Canada). This approach of Warner Bros commenced with the 2020 Christmas release, Wonder Woman 1984. This was a time when most cinemas were shut in the USA and the residents were able to enjoy the Gal Gadot starrer at the same time as the rest of the world thanks to its same-day digital release. Many felt that this would sound the death knell for cinemas. The argument was that if a film is available online, most viewers would not prefer going to the theatres. However, this notion was proved wrong last month with the release of Godzilla vs. Kong. The film got record viewings on HBO Max but at the same time, managed to get record footfalls post pandemic in cinemas as well. As of April 18, Godzilla vs. Kong collected $80.6 million in North America. Its worldwide total is $390.9 million and is all set to soon cross the $400 million mark. Interestingly, it was made at a budget of approximately $165 million. In other words, it has proved to be a profitable venture.
 
Talks of Radhe’s hybrid release have been going around since a long time in the trade. Then, the argument was that the hybrid release won’t affect box office as not all have access to streaming platforms. Hence, those who want to see it in cinemas would still do so. However, things have changed a lot in the last few weeks. Theatres in most cities like Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Jaipur etc are shut. There’s no guarantee if the administration in these places would allow cinemas to resume operations by May 13. In fact, cinemas in many more cities can also shut in the coming days since the pandemic refuses to die down. In such a scenario, one wonders where Radhe would get a theatrical release and what would be its collections from the few places where it manages to release in cinemas? Hence, most viewers would have no choice but to watch it in their homes. The question that now arises is – how many of them would actually pay a certain amount to watch Radhe on ZeePlex? Indian viewers are different from that of the USA and are still stingy when it comes to paying online for content. As a result, most viewers would access the film on pirated websites.
 
In other words, Radhe’s domestic box office would be very poor. While the number of people paying to view it on ZeePlex will also be very few. One then wonders how Zee Studios would be able to recover the Rs. 230 or Rs. 240 crores it has paid to producers Salman Khan, Sohail Khan and Atul Agnihotri to buy the film.
 
The other point of view is that a large number of viewers, especially the affluent one and those living in cities would be ready to shell out money to see Radhe on ZeePlex. Moreover, it will have a release Overseas where it’ll be released only in cinemas. In UAE, it’s expected to have a record opening as it releases on Eid, a huge festival there, and also because it’s the first big Hindi film to release in more than a year. The UK box office is opening up from May 11. USA, New Zealand and Australia markets are already back on track to a great extent. So the makers are hoping to recover a chunk of investment through international box office.

Tenet, the Hollywood biggie, directed by Christopher Nolan, and backed by Warner Bros, released on December 4, 2020 in the cinemas in India. And today, that is, March 13, 2021, it has completed 100 days at the box office. It is in its 15th week, and believe it or not, it is still running in cinemas.

Tenet released in 750 screens and collected around Rs. 1.20 crore on day 1. It managed to gradually get audiences to cinemas. Everyone expected it to hang around in cinemas for a few weeks or till the release of Wonder Woman 1984, another Warner Bros biggie, which released on December 23. However, no one realized in their wildest dreams that it’ll have a run of 100 days. It's lifetime collection till date is close to Rs. 15 crore.

A trade source is amazed as he says, “Look at the challenges the film faced. It came during the pandemic and was one of the first biggies to hit cinemas post lockdown in India. It was a delayed release with HD print being available on the day of release. Also, it’s a Christopher Nolan film and he makes confusing films. So his films are meant for niche audience. Yet, the fact that it ran for 100 days and would remain in theatres for a few more weeks is commendable.”

In this 15th week, Tenet is running across many cities in India. It has maximum shows in Delhi-NCR (8) followed by Jaipur (6 shows; 3 in dubbed Hindi version). In the Rajasthan city of Kota, it has 3 shows, 2 of which are in Hindi. In Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and Surat, it has 2 shows. Even in Kolkata, it has managed to secure 3 shows, 1 of which is in Hindi. Chennai has 1 show while the small town of Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan is also playing one show of Tenet, in the Hindi version!

Finally, in Mumbai, it sadly has just 1 show, in Inox Megaplex, Inorbit Mall, Malad. Surprisingly, till Wednesday March 10, it was running successfully in PVR Juhu. But the programming team removed the film to accommodate the new releases – Roohi and Mera Fauji Calling. When this writer enquired, the team of the film were ignorant of the fact that Tenet completes 100 days in cinemas.

Amit Dadhich, an ardent movie buff says, “So many shows of Tenet are there across the country but I don’t understand why it’s not given enough shows in Mumbai, especially in this iconic week. Sadly, cinemas are not even aware of its 100 days completion. Theatres should never forget that this was an important movie for them as it was the first major Hollywood release post lockdown. People flocked in huge numbers, as per their convenience though, and gradually. And in some properties, it did really well. To remove it from one such theatre is a disappointing move.”

Amit Dadhich is also pleasantly surprised with it’s 100 day run as he states, “In the pre-Covid times, Tenet would have never run for 100 days. Moreover, it was available on the internet soon after its release in India. Yet, it managed to run in so many theatres for such a long time and managed to get a good turnout. It speaks volumes of the charm of the big screen.”

He signs off by saying, “I hope it continues for another 10 days before the release of Godzilla vs. Kong.” The monster flick, also by Warner Bros, releases in India on March 24, 2021.

Meanwhile, Wonder Woman 1984 will also cross the 100-day mark, on April 2.

The cities where Tenet is running in this week is as follows:
Delhi NCR – 8 shows
Mumbai – 1 show
Chennai – 1 show
Chandigarh – 2 shows
Ahmedabad – 2 shows (both shows 1 multiplex, in Time Cinema)
Kolkata – 3 shows (1 in Hindi)
Jaipur – 6 shows (3 in Hindi)
Kota – 3 shows (2 in Hindi)
Sri Ganganagar – 1 show (in Hindi)
Surat – 2 shows (both shows 1 multiplex, in Time Cinema)
TOTAL: 29 shows

TENET RECORDS EXCELLENT ADVANCE!

Since last couple of weeks, we have been stressing in our Bollywood Talks that exciting films should start releasing in cinemas, notwithstanding the Coronavirus pandemic. Although the virus has not gone anywhere, the curve has been flattening here in India. A second wave was feared post Diwali. It’s almost 20 days since the Festival of Lights and yet, the cases have been decreasing. Since November 22, the daily number of cases hasn’t breached the 45,000 mark. All this shows that the situation has been improving.

Yet, the Bollywood industry has been reluctant in releasing the film as the filmmakers fear that audiences might not come. The other unfounded fear is that a second lockdown might happen which also seems unlikely as it’ll lead to major economic repercussions and plus, as mentioned above, it won’t be needed when cases are reducing. The industry failed to see that audiences are bored and are hence heading to Juhu Beach, Marine Drive etc in Mumbai and also other places for leisure. Also, restaurants and pubs are getting great footfalls. These places are a little riskier as one has to remove the mask to consume food and drinks. Cinemas are safer as all precautions are strictly in place and moreover, one has to compulsorily wear the mask.

Yet, the industry remained adamant. It has scheduled small films like Indoo Ki Jawani and Shakeela for release. A film like Shakeela, in fact, is shockingly releasing on the lucrative Christmas weekend. These films look interesting but won’t attract audiences in hordes. And when these films will flop, the industry will feel vindicated and shout from the rooftops how they have been right all along that audiences are scared to visit theatres!

These silly excuses of the industry are all set to run out of steam this weekend. Tenet, the much awaited Hollywood film of Christopher Nolan, is releasing tomorrow. It is not a mainstream masala flick like Avengers or Fast & Furious series. It was released way back in August-end and September in the rest of the world and the reviews have been mixed. Yet, the audiences here are eager to see it, that too, on the big screen due to Nolan and its unique concept. The advance booking of the film started on Saturday and Sunday and believe it or not, by Monday, a lot of shows got sold out! The IMAX shows especially got full first as these are limited across the country. But even the non-IMAX shows began to get excellent bookings.

The trade was left stunned as 25,000 tickets got sold for Tenet over the weekend, that is, 5 days before release! In today’s times, when occupancy generally increases just hours before the show, this is a feat. Another shocker is that 2020’s biggest hit, Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, had sold just 20,000 tickets, in advance, for its first weekend! In fact, a box office website also claimed that if Tenet had sold 25,000 tickets a day before release, even that would have been very good. But here, it managed to do so days before it’s release. And this speaks volumes how people are ready to come to cinemas in large numbers if the film is exciting enough! Is Bollywood listening?

Last year, Warner Bros released Joker which collected Rs. 5.25 crore on Day 1. This was because it was released on Gandhi Jayanti holiday. However, it collected despite clashing with War and Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy. Despite maximum 50% occupancy, Tenet (also produced by Warner Bros) can collect close to Joker’s collections. Even if the collections are in the Rs. 3.50-4.50 crore range for day 1, it’ll be praiseworthy. A weekend in the Rs. 11-13 crore range will be more than enough, considering the challenges and the perception that no one will come to cinemas!

The exhibitors who have been struggling to get patrons can now finally heave a sigh of relief. They are excitedly wondering that if a film like Tenet can manage such advance sales, then how much would Wonder Woman 1984 manage, which releases on Christmas, and has far more appeal than the Nolan-directorial? Here’s hoping the Bollywood industry finally wakes up, sheds his fear and announces a big or mid-sized for Christmas or New Year at least.