PremiumNew Delhi: American science fiction action-comedy Free Guy will arrive in cinemas on 17 September. Directed by Shawn Levy, the film stars Ryan Reynolds along with Taika Waititi, Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, Lil Rel Howery, and Utkarsh Ambudkar.
Following a year-long delay because of the covid-19 pandemic, Free Guy was released theatrically in the US on 13 August in RealD 3D, IMAX and Dolby Cinema formats by 20th Century Studios. The film has grossed over $181 million worldwide.
To be sure, with gradual opening up of theatres across the country, and the possibility of Maharashtra giving permissions later this month, Hollywood studios are looking at making up for the lost time in India by bringing a bunch of movie titles already released in other parts of the world.
Warner Bros has released its action flick Fast and Furious 9 last weekend while Sony Pictures has Venom, Peter Rabbit 2 and Escape Room 2 which can fill the gap in theatres in the initial weeks when there are fewer Indian films available. Film trade experts said the opening of top metros especially in the south should pave the way for these films whose major markets are Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
In 2019, Hollywood, with a combination of spectacular superhero movies and smaller budget, softer films, notched up box office collections of nearly Rs. 1,225 crore in India which was higher than Rs. 900-950 crore it earned in 2018. Dubbing these films in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu apart from exhaustive marketing and localization campaigns by Hollywood studios has added much to their appeal in the country. Presuming sentiments remain subdued and people wary of visiting theatres over the next couple of months, the first batch of Hollywood titles could help restart recovery for the exhibition business, film industry experts said.
