Hollywood threat continues: Deadpool 2 behind Veere Di Wedding postponing release?
Long ago, Bollywood filmmakers weren’t worried about the release of English or regional films. But since international films and regional films (read: Baahubali) started doing better business than Hindi releases, Bollywood makers are wary of simultaneous releases.
The date of release for Veere Di Wedding was announced as May 18 long ago. The film directed by Shashanka Ghosh has been in the news because it marks Kareena’s entry on screen for the first time after turning mother.
But after release date of Marvel superhero movie Deadpool 2 was announced, it sent the makers of Veere... into a tizzy. Last year, when the first part of Deadpool released alongisde Aditya Roy Kapur and Katrina Kaif’s Fitoor, the superhero film wiped out the Hindi movie.
Still from Deadpool 2
Deadpool 2 was earlier scheduled to arrive on June 1 in the US and India, but the release was pre-poned recently leading other makers to shift dates. “It is not a great idea to release a film opposite big franchise movies from Hollywood. We have seen how even Yash Raj Films suffered very badly when Detective Byomkesh Bakshi was wiped out by Fast and Furious 7. Even in 2017, barring Tumhari Sulu, that edged ahead of Justice League, no Bollywood film managed to take on a Hollywood film,” says a trade source. Last year, xXx: Return of Xander Cage released with Karan Johar and Mani Ratnam’s Ok Jaanu and beat the film hollow. xXx collected '35 crore while Ok Jaanu managed '12 crore less.
Later, Logan beat Commando 2, Beauty and the Beast beat Trapped and Machine. Fate of the Furious thrashed Begum Jaan and The Jungle Book beat Fan. John Abraham’s film Rocky Handsome was pitted opposite Batman Vs Superman, and the latter worked at the box office.
This year, some of the tentpole films from Hollywood that release in India are Black Panther, Death Wish, Pacific Rim: The Uprising and Avengers Infinity War among others. It will be interesting to see how Bollywood manages to hold its own in the face of international opposition.
