PremiumGhost release: Netizens allege lacklustre promotions as producer is ‘safe’
With the distribution, satellite and digital rights of Ghost sold for reasonable amounts, it is being alleged that team Ghost is taking the theatrical outing way too lightly
Last Updated: 10.17 PM, Oct 17, 2023
Advance booking for Shivarajkumar’s Ghost opened on October 16, but more than 24 hours later, barely 4-5 shows in Bengaluru are fast-filling (none sold out). On the contrary, day 1 bookings of Thalapathy Vijay’s Leo, which is also releasing on the same day, October 19, have flown off the shelf and how. Ghost is being distributed by producer-distributor Jayanna of Jayanna Films in Karnataka and he was looking at getting it about 350 screens, much of which would be outside core area Bengaluru. In Bengaluru, Ghost has about 200 shows, while Leo has a whopping 1k + shows.
The slow pace of bookings for Ghost is being attributed to multiple reasons, but chief among them are the fact that audiences are still hopeful that early morning shows will be opened (as of now, shows begin at 10 am only), there have been no offline promotional events in the state, and, hence, the buzz surrounding the film is low and third, but not the least is the allegation that the team is taking things too lightly because they have already sold the distribution, satellite and digital rights for good amounts and ensured that the producer is ‘safe’ as far as his investment is concerned. Any theatrical revenue will put him in the profit zone.
The promotions of Ghost have largely been focused on the online space, whether it was about the publicity material like the Big Daddy teaser, OGM track or the trailer, or the team interacting with fans on X (formerly Twitter) spaces, Instagram, etc. Shivarajkumar also found time to shoot for his next production Bhairathi Ranagal in between and while the team promised a pre-release event in Ballari, where he was shooting, that did not happen. The offline promotions were instead focused on other states, which netizens allege was a wrong strategy, by ignoring the core audience.