PremiumDigital rights of Shivarajkumar’s Ghost sold to THIS platform?
The heist thriller Ghost, directed by MG Srinivas, is slated to be in theatres on October 19, in time for Dasara
Last Updated: 02.33 PM, Sep 05, 2023
Kannada filmmaker MG Srinivas’ next, Ghost, had got just the right amount of buzz going for it right from the start, which he has kept going with the occasional update about the project. The film already had already generated a healthy interest among audiences, what with it being an action heist thriller, and that Jayaram and Anupam Kher were also a part of it. But it really skyrocketed last month, when Superstar Rajinikanth’s Jailer released and audiences across the nation took note of one particular cameo – that of Shivarajkumar, the leading man of Ghost. The Century Star’s brief but impactful cameo had a whole new generation of audience invested in him and, by extension, his current projects.
Ghost, produced by Sandesh Nagaraj, is set to be in theatres on October 19 for Dasara , a packed calendar that includes films like Sapta Sagaradaache Ello Side B, Leo, and Bhagavanth Kesari, among others. In the run-up to the release of the film, rumours have emerged that the makers have been able to strike a deal for its post-theatrical streaming rights. For a while now, major OTT platforms have been reluctant to purchase Kannada content outright, ruling out direct-to-OTT releases, but also in striking pre-release deals for post-theatrical streaming rights. Platforms, say sources, evaluate the theatrical performance of a film and the reviews it has received before talking terms and conditions. If Ghost has indeed managed to secure a deal even before the trailer has come out, that’s an encouraging development. The buzz is that the team has been able to sell the film to Amazon Prime Video. Sandesh Productions and Srinivas are yet to confirm this.
Ghost, which will release in two parts, will lay the foundation of the Srinivas Cinematic Universe , which will marry the franchise with the director’s Birbal movies. In a Twitter Space conversation with a fan group, Srinivas had explained that Birbal would be in Ghost and vice versa, to allow for a steady flow of story-telling for the next 10-15 years.