Superstar Rajinikanth’s Kochadaiiyaan has only been able to book 420 theatres so far across the state, a source close to the production house revealed today. However, the source added, “Talks with various distributors are still on. We are certain that more theatres will ask for prints in the next two days. Already 80 theatres in the Coimbatore circle and 60 in the Salem circle have booked the film. However, the response in Chennai is still lukewarm with only 36 theatres booking the film as of Sunday evening.” Rajinkanth’s previous releases including Endhiran and Sivaji were released in about 1250 theatres across the state.
Quick to defend, the source close to the production house says, “Talks with various distributors are still on. We are certain that more theatres will ask for prints in the next two days. Already 80 theatres in Coimbatore circle and 60 theatres in the Salem circle have booked the film. However, the response in Chennai is still lukewarm with only 36 theatres booking the film as of Sunday evening.”
In contrast, the response from distributors abroad has been good, with Kochadaiiyaan set to be the first Indian movie to open in 3D on 80 screens in the US. The prints are expected to be dispatched on Wednesday for overseas markets.
A leading distributor and trade analyst told Silverscreen that the delay in releasing the movie was a major reason for the lukewarm response. He added, “Even though the motion capture technology employed in the movie is untested, Rajinkanth’s name alone would have guaranteed a good response to the film. However, the lack of promotions even at this stage and the uncertainty over the release date are major reasons for the lack of interest in the movie.”
Earlier, the producers of Kochadaiiyaan — Media One Global Entertainment — had announced that they were targeting at least a 1000 screens worldwide for the movie. With only 4 days to go for the release, the target will likely prove to be beyond the reach of the production house.