Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam’s collaboration Thug Life, once hyped as one of the most awaited films of the year, has suffered a disappointing box office run. Despite heavy pre-release buzz and a planned 8-week exclusive theatrical window, the film is being pulled from theatres within three weeks of release and will now premiere on Netflix just four weeks post release.
According to a report by Pinkvilla, the film’s underwhelming theatrical performance prompted Netflix to lower the price it was willing to pay for the streaming rights. It was first valued at Rs 130 crore, but they finally agreed on Rs 110 crore, and the film will now come to OTT earlier than planned.
Pinkvilla quoted the source, “Thug Life will premiere on Netflix in just 4 weeks. The negotiations were made after Netflix decided to reduce the OTT price of Thug Life. The film was valued at Rs 130 crore prior to the release, and Netflix was looking to renegotiate the price at Rs 90 crore after the dismissal run. But the parties eventually settled down at Rs 110 crore for the digital right, with a reduced OTT window of 4 weeks.”
This decision has sparked contractual issues. The source further informed, “There’s a norm in North India to strictly follow a 8-week window. As Thug Life time has breached the guidelines, the National Multiplex Chains have imposed a fine on the producers. It’s a nominal amount, where the producers and distributors of Thug Life have to forgo their theatrical share from Hindi. Incidentally, the amount comes to Rs 25 lakh.”
The total India net collection of the movie is Rs 48.13 crores.
Also Read: Pro-Kannada Group Withdraws Protest Against Kamal Haasan’s Thug Life Post SC Order
The movie focuses on gang leader Sakthivel, who adopts Amaran after saving him during a gang war. Years later, Sakhtivel becomes a target of an assassination attempt and suspects Amaran’s involvement. This incident leads to a conflict between Sakhtivel and Amaran.
Thug Life also stars Silambarasan, Trisha Krishnan, Abhirami, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Ashok Selvan, Joju George, Nassar, Ali Fazal, Rohit Saraf, Mahesh Manjrekar, Sanya Malhotra and Baburaj.
The movie was also involved in a controversy after Kamal Haasan said that ‘Kannada is born out Tamil’ at an event. This led to Thug Life being banned in Karnataka.
Also Read: Supreme Court On Thug Life Ban ‘Can’t Allow Mobs To Dictate’, Tells Karnataka HC To Ensure Release
