Avatar: The Way Of Water was finally released today in cinemas and as expected, it has taken a huge opening across the world, including in India. However, certain cinemas in Tamil Nadu haven’t gotten a chance to screen the film after the exhibitors failed to reach a consensus with Disney with regard to the revenue-sharing terms.
A source from the exhibition sector told Bollywood Hungama, “The studio is asking for 70% percentage share from exhibitors, which is unprecedented and something we’ve never heard for a Hollywood film before. Many theatres agreed while some managed to get it down to 65%. We offered to share 60% of the revenue. But Disney insists on 70%. That won’t work for us. It’s not practically feasible.”
The source continued, “In Tamil Nadu, around 300 screens are playing Avatar: The Way Of Water and have accepted these terms. But around 70 theatres are not ready to give in. In short, close to 20% of cinemas won’t release Avatar: The Way Of Water though they are very keen to play the film.”
The source added, “Not just single screens and two-screen theatres, even the multiplexes have been subjected to these terms and they have agreed. This made it difficult for those 70 theatres. The studio argued that when as many as 300 theatres have agreed to the terms, then why can’t the rest of the theatres also follow suit.”
The source, however, feels there’s still hope, “Many cinemas are on standby, hoping that Disney will relent and that they’ll be able to release Avatar: The Way Of Water. Hence, they aren’t playing any other films this morning. If the problem isn’t solved by afternoon, they’ll be compelled to play holdover releases.”
Interestingly, the ticket sales of Avatar: The Way Of Water are very strong down South compared to the rest of the country. The source signed off by saying, “These terms have been imposed by the studio only in Tamil Nadu where the craze for this film is tremendous. Several cinemas upgraded their screens to 2K specifically for this film. Alas, they might not be able to screen it.”
