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Box Office Battle: 83’ faces the heat due to Spiderman and Jersey; Fight for screens and showcasing begin
Things are heating up in the exhibition sector as the industry gears up for the release of Spiderman, 83 and Jersey. Here's a glimpse at all the behind scene action.
Spiderman: No Way Home has created records in it’s advance booking and has emerged as a true blue surprise for the exhibition sector. While the film was expected to open well, none in the industry expected it to have a shot of being the biggest opener of 2021. There is an unprecedented demand in the audience for the film, and suddenly, tables have turned a big way, with this hype having an impact on next week’s release, 83’ fronted by Ranveer Singh.
All through the last few weeks, Reliance Entertainment was confident that 83’ would get better showcasing than Sooryavanshi, and didn’t anticipate an out of the book competitor in the form of Spiderman. While Reliance is demanding 100% showcasing in the single screens of India, most of the owners are not willing to completely give up on Spiderman in its second week. The single screen owners feel it’s cruel to remove a film as big as Spiderman in just a week of it’s run and are willing to retain it on at-least one show per day.
The distributor of Spiderman, Sony Pictures, too are making a similar demand of at-least one show in the second week at single screens as they are confident of their film putting up big numbers in the second week too. While Reliance is sticking their ground on this, the exhibitors too are clear on not falling in for the demands of the producers this time around. They believe films should run on merit and if 83’ sets the cash registers ringing, they will be more than happy to allot all four shows to the film from Monday, December 27.
The team of 83’ has also demanded prime time showcasing across all multiplexes in India, by asking them to let go of Spiderman in it’s second week. But again, the multiplexes too, who have been bleeding over the last 2 years, are not willing to cut short the run of a film as hot as Spiderman. The conversations on reaching a settlement are on every single day, but unlike the times of Sooryavanshi release, this time around, the exhibitors too are on a strong wicket as they have multiple showcasing options.
That aside, Reliance is also adamant on not letting the single screen owners play Jersey on more than one show from December 31 onwards. They believe their film is meant for the long run and having held back on the release of 2 years, they deserve this preferential treatment. They have also asked for a high show retention ratio in the multiplexes too for the run in the second week. Single Screen owners on the other hand are now confused, given that the distributor of Jersey and RRR are the same. If they agree to demands of team 83’, they will miss out on both Jersey and RRR apart from cutting short the income from Spiderman. And if they don’t agree to demands of team 83’, they might just miss out on 83’, which stands the potential of being the best film of 2021.
Basically, it’s a tough scenario for the team of 83’ as they are indeed sandwiched between Spiderman and Jersey, trying to make a way out to get optimum showcasing in their first and second week. Until the issues are resolved, the advance bookings for 83’ wouldn’t open, and this can have a major dent on it’s opening day prospects. So well, here’s hoping, the issues are resolved with all parties coming on the same page to take a decision that doesn’t deter the prospect of any film and the advances across India open by latest by Monday and things are not dragged till the last minute.
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