It is that time of the year again, Bollywood and Hollywood are set to clash during the festival season with their ‘Cirkus’ and ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ respectively.
As the festival season is approaching across the world with an interesting lineup of films slated for release in the final month of 2022, Disney is reportedly trying their best to have all the single cinema screens in India to itself during the festival season, for the showcase of their mega-budgeted ‘Avatar’ sequel.
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As per an exclusive report from an Indian media outlet, the entertainment giant has asked exhibitors to continue the exclusive screening of the sci-fi epic for two weeks starting from December 16, and therefore, skip the release of the Bollywood title ‘Cirkus’, slated to hit theatres in the following week after ‘Avatar’.
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Citing a source close to the development, the publication reported, “Disney has asked single screens in certain territories, especially the ones equipped with 2k projection, to play Avatar: The Way Of Water exclusively for two weeks.”
The insider added, “This means that they are insisting to exhibitors that they should not release Rohit Shetty’s Cirkus, which releases a week later.”
“The exhibitors are hoping to screen both films. But Disney has made it clear that if theatres want Avatar: The Way Of Water, then they need to screen all shows of the day for 2 weeks,” the report suggests.
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However, the person clarified that the exhibitors are ‘not ready to accept this condition’.
“They are of course excited to play Avatar: The Way Of Water and the advance sales have made it clear that there’s a huge demand to see the sequel. But at the same time, they also wish to screen Cirkus, as it’s directed by Rohit Shetty. His films have always been crowd-pullers and it looks like an ideal Christmas bonanza. Hence, the exhibitors are hoping that a solution can be found so that they can screen both films,” the source told the outlet.
It is pertinent to mention that this is not the first time the deadlock is being faced in the simultaneous release of Hollywood and Bollywood films. Last year two such instances happened when Shetty’s ‘Sooryavanshi’ clashed with Marvel’s ‘Eternals’ and Singh’s ’83’ and ‘Spider-Man: No way Home’ were released a week apart.
About ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, the sequel, set over a decade after the events in the first film, will see the return of Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana to reprise their characters of Jake Sully and his Na’vi partner Neytiri respectively, while, the Academy Award winner Kate Winslet will be seen as Ronal.
James Cameron has helmed the direction and also co-written the film with Josh Friedman and co-produced alongside Jon Landau, Peter M. Tobyansen, David Valdes and Brigitte Yorke.
On the other hand, Bollywood’s period comedy flick, about a circus operator and his gymnast friends, stars Ranveer Singh in a double role with Bollywood divas Jacqueline Fernandez and Pooja Hegde.
Rohit Shetty has directed ‘Cirkus’ and is also co-producing it with Reliance Entertainment and T-Series.
