Good & Bad News For Bahubali 2 Distributors

It's Bahubali 2 The Conclusion time and mania all over the globe. With a little over 10 days left for the release for this mammoth movie which could, by all means be the biggest ever Indian movie, the production house and the distributors have their own share of happy and dull news to gleam and sulk about respectively.

The happy news is that Bahubali 2 will see a never before release in the North American circuit. The Telugu, Tamil & Hindi versions of the movie would be released in as many as 900 Screens in the US and around 150 screens in Canada and thereby taking the tally to 1050 Screens in the North American region itself.

Bahubali 2 will enjoy a release of IMAX format in around 40-45 locations in major territories of USA. Trade pundits are estimating a massive gross of $2.5-$3 M in the North American circuit for premieres.

The scene is no less in Australia, the magnum opus is all set to release in 125 screens in Australia thereby crossing the record of wider release of an Indian cinema in Australia set by Dangal.

It's however the domestic region which is making the Rajamouli directorial movie face the heat. Karnataka, which is a major market for Telugu movies seems to put the makers and distributors in trouble.

Few Kannada outfits and activists have called for a ban on the movie until actor Satyaraj (Katappa) tenders an apology to the people of Karnataka over his remarks during the Hogenakkal issue close to a decade ago.

This bigger market region for Telugu cinema and especially for the Bahubali franchise is expected to rake in a distributor share of 45-50Crs from the said region. The producers and distributors are in a dilemma as it's a question of a state, its culture and politics and hence are yet to comment on the issue.

Meanwhile, the Government of Andhra Pradesh have formed a committee for the reclassification of theatres and revision of ticket prices. The said group will discuss and come out with new ticket rates and possible limitations if any, shortly. The government of AP has also advised the concerned bodies not to allow any ticket hires from April 1.

Though Bahubali 2 distributors, from a few districts have already received permissions in the month of March, they might possibly be allowed to hike ticket prices in theatres concerning respective districts only.

If a cap of ticket pricing is applied, then the calculation of reaping in bigger profits by the distributors might get dented. But the happy news for the AP/TG distributors are that there are no new releases and the existing releases, Cheliya and Mister have fizzled at the box office and there by literally making almost all screens available for the most awaited movie.