As the buzz grows around Titanic director James Cameron?s Avatar, a 20th Century Fox 3D science fiction epic film slated for December-18 release, India joins in, too. In fact, as early as August, Fox Star Studios India CEO Vijay Singh played host to a special 20-minute screening of the film in Mumbai. Film-makers and fans thronged two multiplexes in Mumbai and one in Chennai for a sneak peek into the most anticipated sci-fi film this year, in the works for over a decade.
Sony Pictures opened bookings for Michael Jackson?s This Is It, a film that has footages of the pop star rehearsing for his last concert, from September 27. But the film would release only on October 28, with 150 prints in India. ?We tried out something different in our distribution strategy by opening bookings a month ahead of the release,? said Kercy Daruwala, MD, SPE Films India.
This Is It is going to stay at multi-plexes only for two weeks, that?s what the studio has decided worldwide. ?We hope fans in India will turn out in large numbers for this limited two-week only engagement in theatres. In fact, the response has been quite good. The PVR chain has sold the maximum number of tickets,? said Daruwala.
Analysts said the way Fox is going about promoting Avatar is amazing. ?It?s very good for Hollywood in India, especially because India has never been a market for English films,? they added. Hollywood has had a ?positive? year so far with Warner?s Hangover, released with only 45 prints, doing particularly well.
One of the biggest English films this year, of course, has been Fox?s Slumdog Millionaire. It was released across 351 screens and it did close to Rs 40 crore at the box office. At Warner, even as it prepares to release Ninja Assassin on December 4, it is celebrating the glorious run its small budget film Hangover had in India. According to sources, it grossed Rs 10 crore at the box office. While it?s true that Hangover?s returns in India are puny compared to what it grossed worldwide?the $35-million film about a bachelor party gone wrong raked in $456 million?the important thing, pointed out analysts, is that the film ran for 100 days at a Bangalore multiplex and 50 days in all the other metros.
For Fox, X-Men was released with a Bollywood film, and outperformed it, grossing over Rs 10 crore in its opening week and, according to Singh of Fox STAR Studios India, has till date grossed more than the combined box office collections of the previous three X-Men series. Daruwala, who has spent over two decades in the business, said Hollywood had grown by leaps and bounds in India. ?Earlier, we would struggle to release 4/5 prints, now every major release has at least 500-600 prints. The big numbers indicate growth,? he explained.
A Sony spokesperson said the studio is readying 550 prints in four languages of 2012, to be released on November 13. Then, for its Michael Jackson film, there?s been much interest from metros and smaller towns, like Bhopal and Jaipur. ?The Hollywood segment is clearly growing?its share will be well above the 5-6% mark this year, given its growth and the fact that Bollywood has not had a great year so far,? said Singh.
What?s helped Hollywood is the growing number of distributors in India, unlike earlier when one studio would distribute many films. ?Earlier, foreign films used to be distributed by one or two entities; now most major studios are here, and each is distributing a dozen-odd films, so the pie has increased,? said Smita Jha, associate director, PwC. Warner Bros, for instance, released 16 films this year to Fox?s 17 (15 Hollywood and two local); UTV distributed Disney films in India and Sony too released a dozen films. This year, PVR Pictures became the first independent distributor to release a movie parallel to its international release date. ?We released 9 on 09.09.09 in 40-odd cinemas and are happy with the outcome,? said Ranjan Singh, head, marketing, PVR Cinemas.
According to insiders, since the number of Hollywood films released in India has increased, even a 5-6% collection at the box-office would mean substantial growth in overall terms. For example, Fox STAR Studios has seen a growth of over 270% in 2009 over 2008, according to Singh.
Though Warner didn?t want to comment on numbers, according to industry estimates, Hangover apart, the sixth installment of Harry Potter raked in Rs 23 crore at the box office, which isn?t bad by Hollywood-in-India standards.
According to Singh, ?The gross box office of Hollywood movies has gone up by 10% in 2008 over 2007, despite fewer Hollywood releases in 2008 over 2007. This goes to show that more people are watching Hollywood movies than before. Hollywood movies have consistently featured in the top-20 films in India. Also, thanks to the increase in the number of multiplexes there has definitely been an increase in the viewership and appeal of English films.?
Hollywood studios also dub its big releases into Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, the biggest film markets in India. ?Dubbing has helped us build preference for this content and increase the reach of these movies further down into the B&C centres. For Slumdog Millionaire, as an example, two-thirds of the revenues came from the Hindi version,? said Singh. For Sony, the biggest film in terms of box office gross this year has been Terminator Salvation. released with about 450 prints in four languages.
Picking up on a trend that has been the rage this year, every player is betting big on 3D technology being the next big thing in the sector. ?3D is going to be increasingly important as most major Hollywood studios are continuously focusing on improving the viewership experience,? said Singh. Daruwala said the popularity of the 3D experience in India is one of the most important things that have happened this year. In fact, Fox?s 3D Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs was the biggest 3D film in India; Sony?s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Warner?s Under the Sea too did well.
Singh, in fact, pointed out that India is an important market but is severely under-screened as there isn?t enough number of 2K digital screens. Similarly, there are only 20-odd 3D screens in India. But the good news is that most multiplex players are increasing their presence in the space.