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Movie theatres brace for mixed Christmas weekend

Avataris going to dominate the coming weekend, going into the new year. But there is barely any traction for Cirkus, it hasn’t generated any anticipation among the youth
Movie theatres brace for mixed Christmas weekend
Rohit Shetty’s Cirkus, the major Bollywood release for the festival, has managed net advance sales of 4.5 crore at last count. (Photo: Twitter @atulmohanhere)

Last Updated: 07.54 PM, Dec 23, 2022

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NEW DELHI: Movie theatres that are pinning hopes on the big Christmas weekend to help bolster their fortunes at the end of the year may be in for a mixed box office response. While Hollywood film Avatar- The Way of Water is expected to continue its momentum, Rohit Shetty’s Cirkus, the major Bollywood release for the festival, has managed net advance sales of 4.5 crore at last count. The film is banking on the director’s reputation for mass-market commercial entertainers driven by his last release Sooryavanshi, but lead star Ranveer Singh isn’t enjoying a great run at the box office, with his last two films Jayeshbhai Jordaar and ‘83 (last year’s Christmas release) having failed to set the cash registers ringing. The film whose trailer has failed to generate buzz, is only estimated to open at 5 crore to 7 crore on day one.

Avatar is going to dominate the coming weekend, going into new year’s. We barely see any traction for Cirkus, on the other hand, it hasn’t generated any anticipation among the youth,” Vishek Chauhan, an independent Bihar-based exhibitor said.

While there was some hope that people would ultimately trickle in given the holiday period, Chauhan said audiences are not obligated to spend money on a movie they aren’t excited by, the release of Akshay Kumar’s Ram Setu and Sidharth Malhotra-starrer Thank God for the Diwali weekend was proof of the same. Lead actor Singh’s last release ’83 had managed to hog enough screens last Christmas despite the success of Spider-Man: No Way Home and Allu Arjun’s Pushpa- The Rise: Part One, Chauhan said. “It’s not something Cirkus will be able to manage given Disney’s push for Avatar,” Chauhan said adding that the Hollywood film is likely to see greater traction as schools and colleges shut down Friday onwards.

According to trade website Box Office India, advances of Cirkus are comparable with below par box office performers like Raksha Bandhan and Bhediya. Disney’s Brahmastra leads the list of top advances in 2022 as far as the national multiplex chains go, with 3,04,000 tickets sold for opening day. It is followed by Ajay Devgn’s Drishyam 2 (1,19,000) and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (1,12,000). Cirkus ranks 12th on the list with 32,000 tickets sold at last count.

Trade expert Shaaminder Malik said the other disadvantage for Cirkus is that several theatre chains had signed agreements to play Avatar for a minimum of two weeks. “Pus, the 3D version of Avatar is doing well, so at best, it can be pulled out of 2D screens for Cirkus to be shown,” Malik pointed out.

That said, some trade experts point out the Shetty brand that is popular in tier-two and tier-three towns is not driven by advances but walk-in crowds. “Many single screens have exhausted their audience for Avatar in one week. Drishyam 2 too is out of the picture. So they only have Cirkus to lean on. The trailer may not have generated much excitement but the content could travel to wide audiences,” film distributor and exhibitor Sunny Khanna said.

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