Telugu360.com has already reported about the changes in the rental structure of overseas theatres after the AMC – Carmike merger and also the impact of revenue earned by the buyers and distributors. As the share comes down, the trade circles in overseas have turned extra cautious and are not readily shelling out huge amount for big ticket films. Also the exhibitor community has been weary as there is no clarity on the payout structure. They are fearing because the new rental structure will make it tougher to recover the investment as fast as they did till now.
But, as per sources, Tollywood producers are not willing to accept the new overseas reality and they are in no mood to reduce the prices of overseas distribution rights.
Here are some sample responses from distributors in the last week
- When a reputed overseas distributor, who released Mahesh Babu’s movies, approached the producer of Mahesh’s one of the upcoming film in September last year, the producer quoted 25 Crores. When the distributor tried to explain that the rental structure has changed and that number will not work out, his answer was “avi anni maaku anavasaram amma. 25 Cr isthe istha. Lekapothe ledu“.
- Also, the producer of one of Prabhas’s next movie is asking upwards of 25 Cr the overseas rights.
Even though, distributors are stressing on the new payout structure, producers are not in a mood to reduce the prices. This has put OS distributors in a spot of bother and they are thinking twice before bagging the rights of big budget flick.
It remains to be seen how the new revenue system in overseas impacts our films and distributors.