2018 Movie's Success Alone Won't Be Enough To Help Mollywood: 82 FLOPS Out Of 90 Releases In Last 5 Months

2018 Movie's Success Alone Won't Be Enough To Help Mollywood: In a historic achievement for Malayalam cinema, the movie '2018' has taken the box office by storm, smashing records and surpassing the 150 crore mark worldwide.

Directed by Jude Anthony Joseph and starring the talented Tovino Thomas in the lead role, this film has emerged as a game-changer, surpassing the previous highest-grossing Malayalam film, 'Pulimurugan', which featured the legendary Mohanlal.

The phenomenal success of '2018' has certainly made a significant impact on the industry, but it alone cannot address the larger challenges facing Mollywood. Despite this groundbreaking achievement, the overall success ratio of Malayalam cinema remains relatively low when compared to the total number of releases in the first five months of 2023. In fact, out of the approximately 90 films released during this period, a staggering 82 ended up being classified as flops, according to film trade tracker ForumKeralam.

During the same five-month period, Mollywood witnessed the emergence of '2018' as an industry hit, along with another blockbuster film called 'Romancham'. Additionally, there were four films that performed moderately at the box office and were labelled "average grossers. However, ForumKeralam has not disclosed the names of these four films, leaving fans speculating that they could be 'Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam', 'Paachuvum Albhuthavilakkum', 'Madanolsavam', and 'Neymar'.

OTT & Decline In Box Office Collection

Meanwhile, the announcement of '2018' releasing on an OTT platform had a significant impact on its box office collection. While the film witnessed a decline in its collections after the official OTT release date was announced, this dip didn't come as a surprise to the moviemakers. They never anticipated the tremendous success '2018' would achieve prior to its release.

However, the OTT release announcement has disappointed some loyal fans who fear that the film's expected global collection of over Rs. 200 crore may be affected. They believe that the availability of the movie on a streaming platform will result in decreased ticket sales. Recent reports suggest that this assumption might indeed become a reality, as even the mere announcement of the OTT release has impacted the film's box office performance.

While loyal fans of '2018' express their disappointment about the OTT release, it has brought joy to those who missed the opportunity to watch it in theatres. SonyLIV has announced that the record-breaking blockbuster '2018' will soon be available for streaming starting June 7 in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi. This decision offers a chance for a wider audience to experience the film's magnificence and witness the magic that captivated millions in theatres.