Despite captivating the audience and also drawing praise from foreign media for their first glimpse, the makers of 'Kalki 2898 AD' and 'Hiranyakashyap' were a bit unhappy since Hollywood superstar Sylvester Stallone and actress Briony Scarlet of ‘Wonder Woman" fame gave it a miss.
“Both these stars agreed to grace the massive event for a few minutes. Their agents negotiated with our makers and agreed to promote our work. Undeniably, Stallone's personal appearance and promotion would have given a big fillip to the Glimpse launch. Their presence at the event would have brought in enormous mileage for ‘Kalki’ and ‘Hiranyakashyap’ in Hollywood as well as across the world. Fetching Telugu filmmakers the much-needed hype and recognition for their ambitious and big-budget flicks," says a source.
He further adds, “In fact, the Telugu makers were willing to pay a whopping Rs 1 crore(in US dollars) to each of these celebrities for gracing the occasion. But the stars withdrew at the last moment due to ongoing actors guild strike in Hollywood.”.
On the other hand, very few know the amount spent on the whole launch event. “Producers had to dole out a whopping Rs 2.5 crore, equivalent in US dollars, to set up a stall at the renowned San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) to reach out to Hollywood viewers. It is the first time for an Indian film,” says a source and adds, “Rana Daggubati was the first one to book the stall at the grand event to promote his Amar Chitra Katha series and later ‘Kalki’ producers also joined him and both unveiled their works to the world,” he adds.
Nonetheless, the Comic-Con experience would be cherished and long-lasting for all. From Prabas to Rana and Aswini Dutt to Nag Ashwin besides Kamal Hassan,” he concludes.
