Disney+ Hotstar bags digital rights of Mammootty’s investigative thriller CBI 5 – The Brain?

Even as the makers of Malayalam megastar Mammootty’s upcoming movie CBI 5: The Brain are eyeing a theatrical release in April, the film’s OTT rights have been sold at a record price to Disney+ Hotstar, according to reports.

We hear that the makers are currently deciding between a release date of April 7 and April 28 (Eid release) for the movie, which will have Mammootty reprising his iconic role as CBI Sethurama Iyer. An April 7 release, however, might mean that the film might not get a long run like previous Mammootty movies as Vijay’s Beast and Yash’s KGF: Chapter 2 will be hitting the theatres the following week.

With theatres preferring to screen the two other-language movies, the makers of CBI are more likely to opt for an Eid release, even if it clashes with Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Jana Gana Mana, Jayaram and Meera Jasmine’s Makal and Tovino Thomas’ Thallumala.

Reports suggest that CBI 5’s digital rights have been bagged by Hotstar while Asianet has bought its satellite rights. Considering the franchise’s appeal as well as the success of Mammootty’s previous film Bheeshma Parvam, which has gone on to become his highest grossing Malayalam film ever, the high price for the rights doesn’t come as a surprise.

CBI 5 will also have Mukesh and Jagathy Sreekumar returning as Chacko and Vikram respectively. The K Madhu directorial, scripted by SN Swamy, also has Soubin Shahir, Dileesh Pothan, Renji Panicker, Asha Sharath, Kaniha, Ramesh Pisharody and Saikumar as part of the cast.

Meanwhile, Mammootty has currently completed shooting for his Telugu film Agent, which has Akhil Akkineni in the lead and is directed by Surender Reddy. The actor also has Ratheena PT’s Puzhu and Lijo Jose Pellissery’s Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakam coming up. While the former is confirmed to be a direct-to-OTT release on Sony LIV in April, the makers are yet to take a call on Lijo’s first collaboration with the megastar.

Also read: Exclusive! Dulquer on convincing Mammootty to release Puzhu on OTT: As actors, both of us want to experiment