Kadal Kadannoru Mathukutty Secures Record Satellite Rights - 5.75 Crores

Kadal Kadannoru Mathukkutty creates a new record for Satellite Rights in Malayalam industry by going under the hammer for a record figure of 5.75 Crores to a leading Malayalam Channel, rumoured to be Asianet. The record was previously held by Kammath & Kammath at 4.90 Crores secured by Mazhavil Manorama earlier during the year. This also ensures that the Ranjith directed film, produced by August Cinemas has attained break even, well before its theatrical release on August 9th.

 

2013 has seen a robust boost in the trend at which satellite rights are being secured by channels. 2010 had seen a dip in the demand for the rights amongst the channels, but with Mazhavil Manorama entering the race and the Sun Network re-adopting a aggressive strategy, the rates have soared up to sky level, which indirectly shall increase the pay for the leading stars, and the general cost of producing the film.

 

This year, apart from Kammath, Ladies & Gentleman and Sound Thoma have made big bucks from satellite rights, by raking in 4.80 and 4.70 Crores respectively. The rumour that ABCD got sold for approx. 2.70 Crores, bears testimony to the rise of Dulquar Salman to stardom in Mollywood.

 

But the question remains as to whether Kadal Kadannoru Mathukutty will be labelled a HIT, if it proves to be a washout with a life time gross of less than 3 Crores ? If mere table profits are considered, almost 75% of the films starring the Big M's, Dileep, and to a lesser extent, Prithviraj and Kunchako Boban are successful ventures.

 

Film Industry remains a business after all, and the producer is not merely dependant on the share from the theaters, or the outright price for which he sells the rights to distribute to a distributor. Apart from satellite rights, overseas distribution, Audio/DVD rights, and Remake rights, add to the revenue. So, if the producer recovers the cost, the film is 'Profitable', but unless it does business at the theatres, proportionate to its cost of production and distribution, it is never a HIT. This is precisely why, Sound Thoma is a HIT, Ladies & Gentleman is a FLOP, and Kadal Kadannoru Mathukutty is 'profitable' but not yet a HIT,

BOXOFFICE VERDICTS
 

Singham II grosses 6.70 Crores from Kerala - Boxoffice Update

Suriya's Singham II has raked in 6.70 Crores from 17 days at the Mollywood Boxoffice. The film earned a mammoth initial in the first weekend from 142 theatres, and grossed 4.90 from the opening week,but dropped to 62 theatres in its second week, which was more or less expected considering the high number of extra theatres, and the mixed word of mouth.

Singham II has fallen well short of the two-week gross of 7.35 Crores registered by Vijay's Thuppakki in late 2012. The life time gross of Thuppakki from Kerala stood at a whopping 10.70 Crores, and chances are low that Singham II would cross the 8 Crores mark considering the number of high profile releases for Ramzan, and shall end up a losing venture for its distributors in Kerala who had a huge premium for the film.

A large number of Singham II's theatres have already been taken over by Dhanush's Mariyan which is also expected to take a decent opening from 70+ theatres in the state. Honey Bee and ABCD also have managed to make comebacks at rural centers.

BOXOFFICE VERDICTS

 

Honey Bee - Most Profitable Movie of 2013 - 9.16 Crores Gross

Honey Bee emerges the most profitable movie of 2013 till now, with a 9.15 Crores from 45 days from Kerala. The film continues strong in 27 theatres in its 7th week, a feat achieved by only two other films this year - Romans and Sound Thoma.

 

The distributor share has crossed 4.25 Crores, and the satellite rights of the movie has been bagged by Asianet for 2.55 Crores. Honey Bee has raked in impressed figures from overseas too, despite a late release at the Middle East sector proving to be a bit costly. The music by Deepak Dev has been chartbuster stuff from day one.

 

In the final verdict, Honey Bee is expected to earn a margin of 4.50+ Crores from all sources, which is fabulous feat in Mollywood today.

Verdict : Super Hit

BOXOFFICE VERDICTS

 

5 Sundarikal fails to hold up - 2.65 Crores Gross in 16 Days - Below Average

Amal Neerad's initial venture as a producer fails to hold up well in the second week, with a week-to-week drop of 65%. The second week ended at 65 lakhs gross, adding up the to the 1.90 Crores raked in during the opening week. The film garnered generally positive opinion, but has not realized them into collections at the counters.

 

5 Sundarikal lost out 40 theaters to the new releases, mainly Singham II during its third weekend. The third Monday had a pathetic status of 15% and things do not look great for the film which is expected to be washed out by the end of next week from the theaters. The outright failure of God for Sale, Buddy, Tourist Home and Mizhi may provide some respite for 5 Sundarikal, but the trend does not look good for a lifetime gross above 3 Crores.

Gross : 2.65 Crores
Verdict : Below Average

Honey Bee crosses 8 Crores Gross - Boxoffice Update

Debutant director Jean Paul Lal strikes gold at the first aim, as Honey Bee is declared a sure shot Super Hit by the trade. The 31 day gross for the movie from 7000+ shows has crossed the 8 Crores mark, with the distributor share standing at a whopping 3.65 Crores mark. Honey Bee is the fourth film in 2013 to cross 8 Crores, behind Romans, Kammath & Kammath and Sound Thoma.

 

Honey Bee has been struck hard in its 6th week by the mammoth release and success of Singham II in 120+ theaters in Kerala. Comebacks are expected once Singham walks out of the extra theaters, as the new releases Buddy and Tourist Home have bombed in the opening weekend itself.

 

The movie looks at a lifetime gross in the range of 9 Crores, as no further big releases are expected till Eid, when Thalaivaa and Chennai Express would invade the theaters in Kerala.

 

Gross : 8 Crores

Verdict : Super Duper Hit.!

Boxoffice Verdicts - 2013 Mollywood Boxoffice Half Yearly Report

It is that time of the year when the trade analysts and boxoffice followers are eager to appraise how the industry has performed during the first half of the year. Here comes BOV with its trademark half yearly report for 2013.

Out of a total of 85 releases, 13 films have managed to break even, 10 films were Flops, and all the other 62 films were declared Boxoffice Disasters. 2013 is yet to present Mollywood with an outright Blockbuster, but has produced 2 Super Hits and 8 Hits till now.

SUPER HITS

ROMANS is the run-away winner of the year till now with a life time gross of 10.94 Crores, which is yet to be surpassed this year. The film ran for 50+ days in 29 theaters, and was declared a Super Hit within 3 weeks of release.

The dark horse of the first half has been Alphonse Puthren's bilingual starring Nivin Pauly - NERAM. The film made in a shoestring budget raked in 5.85 Crores and is the second most profitable movie of the first half.


HITS

KAMMATH & KAMMATH
Gross : 10.34 Crores
The multi-starrer secured a thunderous initial as expected and cashed in on the wide release. Though the mixed opinion caused wide removals from the 4th week, the film had grossed enough to be declared a clean hit.

SOUND THOMA
Gross : 10.13 Crores
Dileep continued to stamp his authority over Mollywood Boxoffice with the stupendous success of SOUND THOMA. The film gave director Vyshakh his fourth consecutive hit.

IMMANUEL
Gross : 7.34 Crores
The Lal Jose family entertainer carried the best word of mouth among the Vishu releases and finished with the highest solo film gross for a Mammootty starrer after Best Actor in 2010.

HONEY BEE
Gross : 7.19 Crores (24 Days)
Honey Bee went on a roll amongst the youth audience, and held up big time to secure the second solo success for Asif Ali after Salt N Pepper. The potential Super Hit shall in all probabilities, end up with a lifetime gross of 8.50 - 9 Crores.

ABCD
Gross : 6.45 Crores (17 Days)
ABCD marked Dulquar Salman's arrival as a Mass Hero who can pull off a commercial movie on his shoulders. The film managed to open big and continued to perform well despite heavy rains.

The other movies which were declared a HIT by the trade are MUMBAI POLICE (6.42 Crores), BHARYA ATHRA PORA (4.83 Crores) and CELLULOID (4.57 Crores). AMEN (5.47 Crores) had a stupendous run at the boxoffice, but finally ended up in the  ABOVE AVERAGE category, due to the high cost of production. DRACULA (2.85 Crores) and NEE KO NJA CHAA (2.35 Crores) were the other film which managed to break even.

The notable failures of the year are LADIES & GENTLEMAN, 3 DOTS, RED WINE and HOTEL CALIFORNIA.


BOXOFFICE VERDICTS


 

ABCD marches on at the boxoffice - 6.45 Crores in 17 days - Boxoffice Update

ABCD continues to hold up extremely well despite the heavy rains. The distributor share has surpassed many other successful movies of the year like Mumbai Police, Neram and Amen.  The weekdays are expected to add another 40 lacs to its kitty. The film looks at a lifetime gross of 8-8.50 Crores depending on how much it can fend off the challenge from Singam II this weekend. If ABCD can manage a reasonable number of comebacks at the extra theatres where Singam II released, it looks at a free run for another 3-4 weeks due to the lack of big new releases during Ramzan.

Gross : 6.45 Crores (17 days)

Verdict : HIT