Kollywood
Kamal Haasan's 'Thug Life' Theatrical Window Shortened After Poor Box Office Result; OTT Price Reduced
Chennai, June 26 - The legendary combo of actor Kamal Haasan and director Mani Ratnam reunited after 4 decades for a gangster action drama film Thug Life. It is among the most anticipated Tamil movies of the year; however, what followed next shocked the trade. ## Released on June 5, the film met with poor reception from critics and the audience. This resulted in a shocking box office performance of the film as it finished below 100 crores gross globally, turning into one of the biggest disasters of the year. ## Before the release of the film, the makers showed immense confidence in it and even publicly announced that it would be released on an OTT platform only after 8 weeks of theatrical release, breaking out from the usual norm of a 4-week window that exists in the Tamil Film Industry. ## The 8-week theatrical window announcement secured the movie's multiplex release in the Hindi version, becoming one of the first major Tamil movies to have a multiplex release in Hindi in recent times. However, the poor performance of the film led the makers to change their plans. ## According to the report by Pinkvilla, the makers have shortened the theatrical window of the movie to just 4 weeks to avoid further losses. The negotiations were made after Netflix, which is the official streaming partner of the movie, decided to reduce the OTT price of Thug Life. ## The movie was initially valued at 130 crore for OTT release, but the poor box office performance caused damage to this. It is said that Netflix was looking to renegotiate the price at 90 crore, but both parties eventually settled down at 110 crore for the digital rights, with a reduced OTT window of 4 weeks, as per Pinkvilla. ## Meanwhile, the reduced theatrical window has resulted in a breach of contract between the producers of Thug Life with the distributor and the national multiplex chains in North India. The report further stated that the Multiplex Chains have imposed a fine of 25 lakh on the producers. ## Stay tuned...
