STR- Mani combo with LYCA - Sudha Kongara to film Vettai Naigal book

LYCA big time film is with STR- Mani Ratnam and another one with Sudha Kongara based on VettaiNaigal ; Read on:

STR52 - Mani Ratnam & Lyca:

• This script has been in discussions with STR and Ratnam even before Thug Life, and they plan on launching it in mid-2026.
• The film is an out and out Love Story. Rahman has been roped in no surprise here.
• Ratnam is going to do a Tamil-Telugu bilingual love story film with Naveen Pollishetty, while Simbu wraps up his commitments.
• They plan on releasing this film in late 2027. It is not a big budget film.
• 

Along with these films, STR53 has also been signed with Sudha Kongara and Hombale. This movie is a rooted one which takes place in North Madras- inspired by Vettai Naigal novel. Sudha about the book;

sudha_kongara

 

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Naran’s Vettai Naaigal.
A world rich and rooted in the seas and shores of Thoothukudi.

Having bought the rights to this marvellous story, I’m now Very very excited and eager to start on the screenplay of the novel…a journey that’s usually excruciating but exhilarating too.

I get to live a life through this film that I haven’t experienced before - a Film maker’s greatest reward!

And then the cherry on top will be the CASTING. Who will bring this to life ? 😊

STR53 is to be done with Jude Joesph, which is a massive scale film.

Also STR60 will be written, directed, and performed by Simbu- likely a spiritual sequel to Manmadhan. Script is finished. Yuvan has been roped in, and it looks like AGS wants to do it but STR first wants to lock in a deal with them for STR50.

Confirmed STR Projects

STR49 - Ramkumar Balakrishnan & Dawn:

• Shoot begins from June 16th, primarily happening inside a college.
• Simbu plays a college rowdy, and Santhanam has been roped in as the second lead. STR will be sporting shorter hair and a clean shave.
• The shoot stretches for 60 days and the film will get wrapped up with this.
• All songs are completed but vocals need to be recorded.
• They have locked in the Christmas 2025 date and are working towards it.

STR50 - Ashwath Marimuthu & AGS:

• Shoot begins from early September this year, and updates will flow in from August.
• The screenplay and dialogue work is in full flow and will be completed in Late July.
• The story is not a remake/adaptation, and Ashwath has made sure that it doesn’t have any similarities in terms of arcs and beats to his previous films.
• The heroine has been locked along with a few other cast members. Mrunal Thakur seems to be their choice, but this could also be false.
• The film will be released in June 2026; STR wants to release it on the 6th, as then all parts of the date align with the number 6- his Manmadhan number.

STR51 - Desingh Periyasamy & STR:

• The pilot promotional shoot for this film has been happening since the start of May, and it likely that it has almost been finished.
• They are looking to release this promotional video in early July to space it away from Thug Life release. It has also a lot of VFX and musical work towards it.
• This project has been pitched to AGS to co-produce with Simbu, and they have struck the following deal. If the STR51 team shows the completed pilot video to Netflix and they agree to buy the film, AGS will join in. If not they will discuss another plan.
• Shooting for this film is likely to begin in the first quarter of 2026. Simbu will grow his long hair again for this, so wig rumors aren’t true.
• Simbu plays the hero and villain in this periodic film. It will be different from other period films, it is purely character driven and features unique dance and action. He has been personally trained for these segments.
• The team is planning for a Pongal 2027 release, which they plan to announce in the promotional video in July.

 

 

 

Indian 3 starts / LYCA- RAJINIKANTH _ PRITHVIRAJ combo ? . Empuran out of IMAX/ CHIYAAN BACK

 Kamal Haasan – Shankar and Lyca have agreed to complete the remaining portions of Indian 3 on a tight budget . Shankar has dropped the idea to shoot a song and instead just do what is needed to get the film ready for release. Without the song , it needs 30 days shoot and pre- production for this schedule is on.

Lyca is to collaborate with Rajinikanth and from what we hear is that Prithviraj is on Director’s list. In an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, Prithviraj reveals that he didn’t have to urge Rajinikanth to extend his support to the film. “When I went to his home in Chennai and showed him the trailer, I didn’t ask him to tweet it. When I came back, Soundarya called me and said that appa would like to tweet the trailer and asked me if I can send them the link," he told the channel.

Lyca who pulled out of Empuran has no ill feelings with the Director and it was a financial decision to pull out and nothing personal. Prithviraj is co-producer of Empuran along with Mohanlal. Lal Salaam produced by Lyca is finally coming on OTT. Only project on hand is Jason Sanjay’s film.

Empuran is likely to be out of IMAX screens in India as to redit the film to put in the 20 off censor cuts will cost Rs 43 lakhs. After one week run and declining collection, Producers may not put in this money. After 7 days Empuran in Kerala has collected Rs 73 cr Nett and in Tamil – Rs2.64 cr, Telugu -Rs 2.34 cr and Rs 0.19 cr . The Malayalam version has collected Rs 10 crore in Karntaka and mainly from Bengaluru. Overseas Nett is Rs 30 crore.

Worldwide	India Net	India Gross	Overseas	Verdict
₹ 122 Cr	₹ 83.73 Cr	₹ 92 Cr	₹ 30 Cr	None

Vikram’s Veera Dheera Sooran 2 despite good reviews is moving towards an average hit. It was predicted that the film will be a modest hit and be a relief after Thangalan disaster. The films collection for Day 1 was lost over a fight between Producers and those who bought the OTT. Vikram had charged Rs 30 crores but it was both parts. There was no need for Vikram or S J Suryah to shell out any money for the film release.

Film has collected Rs 27 crores in Tamil Nadu and overseas Rs 7 crores. The on road promotions by Chiyaan even after release has be an eyeopener to many. It is still holding good with Rs 2 crore on Day 7. Till Good Bad and Ugly arrives, it can rope in more money. Chiyyan core Kerala area became inaccessible with Empuran wave. Telugu saw two straight releases and one- Mad Square went on to be  a blockbuster.

Mohanlal most crucial film L2 Empuran release problem

Is Mohanlal’s Empuran producers fighting with each other over sharing revenue ? The strong buzz is that the film might not make it on March 27th. One version is that the one of the producer Lyca is asking for a pull out as the market condition is bad after Vidamuyurchi failure in Tamil Nadu. Close To Rs 40 cr share was got for Lyca from Tamil Nadu market. So far it has invested Rs 80 crores and wants it back with interest. Red Giant is not willing to advance any money and instead distribute on commission basis . Lyca distributed Vidamuyurchi on refundable deposit in Tamil Nadu and hence has no outstanding with theatres. We hear that either Ashirwad gives Lyca the money back or a share in digital rights and from Gulf countries and overseas sale Ashirwad the Producer is not able to rake up this money and negotiations are on.. If Red Giant steps in partly pays Lyca before release and a share after release is likely formula. As Ajith’s Vidamuyurchi collected only Rs 80 crores gross totally in Tamil Nadu, Empuran should collect more than that for Lyca to recover the investmen of Rs 80 crore with interest.. Malayalam film Manjumel Boys collected Rs 53 crores in TN. Other films that collected more than Rs 100 cr in Tamil Nadu are Rajamouli films and KGF2. Even Pushpa 2 collected only Rs 55 crores. Given this past records, Lyca wants to scoot off. In 2019, Lucifer collected Rs 2.5 crores in Tamil Nadu and at that year it created a record of a Malayalam film highest collection in Tamil filmdom.

Here why Empuran is most important film for Mohanlal career wise and financially for Ashirwad Films ? Lets us take a look at the post-COVID era box office of Mohanlal who had seven theatrical releases so far. Except for one, all were bombs. It started with Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea, which turned out to be a box office bomb, wrapping up the India run at just 21.06 crore net. It was followed by three back-to-back box office duds - Aaraattu (11.24 crores), Monster (5.19 crores), and Alone (71 lakh). After four big box office duds , Mohanlal enjoyed his first success post-COVID with Neru, which was helmed by Jeethu Joseph and it was a sequel to hit film Drishyam. At the Indian box office, earning 44.83 crore net against a budget of 18 crores. Then came Barroz directed and acted Mohanlal and became the lowest earnrer in the actor’s career. Like Neru, Empuran is a sequel to hit film Lucifer and has potential to work wonders at the Indian box office.

Empuran must do a KGF for Lyca and Antony

Will Empuran bring much needed moolah for Lyca Productions ?. The Kerala Film Producers Association leader Suresh Kumar says that the film’s budget so far is Rs 141 crores and Mohanlal the hero and Director’s Prithviraj salaries are not included. Film is produced by Antony Perumbavoor who is said to be Mohanlal’s alter ego and so Mohanlal salary could be the investment and probably Prithviraj too has joined in on profit sharing. Rest of the money is probably from Lyca and it was advertised as the company’s first foray into Mollywood. . Lyca cannot take the investment from Kerala alone and Empuran has to do something like KGF or Kantara. Antony was bitter over Suresh Kumar talking about the big risk that Empuran is taking. Suresh is childhood friend of Lal and has the distinction of being the Producer of his first film and sounded the clapboard for first shot featuring Lal maiden film. Anto Joseph like Antony is Mammootty’s alter ego and he has got together his hero and Mohanlal together in a film directed by Mahesh Narayanan Anto talking to OTT Play reasons - “Certain films, irrespective of artistes’ remuneration, help make the industry bigger,” he says. “For instance, Kantara came at a time when Kannada film industry was going through a crisis. As a maker of a film like KGF and that too with an actor like Yash, you would never expect it to recover its budget from Kannada industry alone. But the movie helped make the industry one of the biggest in the country. And soon after that you had Kantara.” To a query that Tamil films and other language films are getting figures in Kerala , Anto has this to say -“Let me ask this, if a Rajinikanth or a Vijay film releases in Kerala, we Malayalis go to theatres to watch them and give them record-breaking openings. But none of our Malayalam films get that. Our audience wait for reviews and good reports before doing that for our films,” he says. For Tamils and other language film viewers, what makes them take to Malayalam films in a big way ? What made Manjumel Boys and Premalu run in Tamil Nadu and Andhra/ TS ? Was it reviews ?. Was it the promotion gala ? Word of mouth alone. Pushpa 2 was nowhere in Tamil Nadu and so was Game Changer. If Antony Perumbavoor dream of Empuran turning into a KGF comes true, then only Lyca will benefit but also Malayalam film industry will attract outside producers and corporate firms. Film is releasing on March 27th. We can expect promotions to start in major capitals in South.

GAME CHANGER Release hit by Shankar's - Lyca faceoff / MARCO replaces Baby John

 

Game Changer release might face legal hurdles from Indian 3 makers. Reason is that Director Shankar is asking Rs 60 cr for doing a reshoot and a new song for the Kamal Haasan film. As per sources, trade reports after seeing Game Changer has said that first half is good and second half excellent. The film screened in Chennai has given a top notch rating. Given this , Game Changer ( GC) will be another Pushpa 2. In such a situation, Indian 3 coming from same Director will fetch heavy prices and so Rs 60 cr is justified is the argument.

Lyca has more or less struck a deal for direct OTT release. At this juncture came the suggestion that a reshoot at a budget that does not make a hole in the pocket was possible and a theatre release be possible. At that time, GC and Shankar were no hot property. Post Indian 2 debacle, GC had lost the sheen and audio was no great shakes.

Now with GC swinging upwards, the traction has made Shankar realize that Lyca ill get more bucks and so he too should get a share of the extra money. Lyca  agreed to allow Shankar to do GC on the condition that he would complete Indian franchise. Now the opportunistic stance by Shankar has made Lyca dust up old files and complaints filed with various trade bodies.

GC trailer has not yet hit the public and as the contents will decide whether it is ok with fans, the delay is created lot of resentment about GC makers. In Bollywood, GC is Ram Charan’s next after RRR that did Rs 275 crores. So trade says that if GC does a Rs 5 cr opening , the film has a potential to do well but less than Devara that opened with Rs 7 crore. There is no buzz over GC till date and hopefully the trailer might work,

SHOCKING! Baby John Shows Replaced by Hindi Version Of Marco After Poor Collections; Varun Dhawan’s Film Gets Only 4/ 275 Screens In CP Berar

Varun Dhawan’s much-hyped film Baby John seems to have hit rock bottom just days after its release. The film, which opened on 25 December with a modest Rs 11.25 crore, has seen an alarming decline in collections.

By its second day, earnings plummeted to Rs 5.13 crore, and Friday’s figures offered no respite. With weekend predictions under Rs 30 crore, exhibitors have already started pulling the plug on the movie.

Baby John Shows Replaced By Hindi Version Of Marco After Poor Response

A key exhibition source revealed to Bollywood Hungama, “The Thursday drop confirmed to theatres that the film wouldn’t sustain over the weekend. Consequently, cinemas nationwide began reducing its shows.”

Now, the Hindi version of the Malayalam hit Marco has stepped in to fill the gap. The ultra-violent film has sparked curiosity, with many viewers comparing its intensity to the recent blockbuster Animal. (calling the latter “child’s play” in comparison.)

Theatres have responded to this demand by replacing Baby John with Marco and other popular titles like Pushpa 2 and Mufasa: The Lion King.

source; https://boxofficeworldwide.com/movies-latest-news/shocking-baby-john-shows-replaced-by-hindi-version-of-marco-after-poor-collections-varun-dhawans-film-gets-only-4-275-screens-in-cp-berar/

 GC till date and hopefully the trailer might work,_

Rajinikanth and Venkat Prabhu next ? OTT wary of Critics favorites

 

Is Rajinikanth and Venkat Prabhu to collaborate for a film produced by Lyca Productions ?. The buzz is that Vettaiyan was to wipe out the losses that Lyca suffered from early ventures with the Actor, but it has only managed to recover the costs and nothing more. One version is that Rajinikanth has offered to do a film for Lyca and the choice is Venkat Prabhu as the Producers feel that GOAT success can be repeated with Thalaivar. Thalaivar saw GOAT and called Venkat and appreciated him. Venkat in reply posted - Thank you, Thalaivaaaa!! for the call and for embracing our #GOAT with so much love. Thanks again for appreciating wholeheartedly. Forever grateful, sending you all the love. Rajinikanth is now working with Lokesh considered a Vijay Director and earlier Nelson who directed Jailer is also a Vijay camp Director.

So far according to exhibitors in the South, Kalki and Devara from Tollywood saved them and from Kollywood it was GOAT that gave Rs 250 crore collection within the State.

Vettaiyan gross ! week is Rs 85 crores in Tamil Nadu. Total gross within India including other languages is Rs 122.15 crore. The overseas collection is around Rs 73 crores claims production. The total budget is Rs 250 crores and with other digital rights, the company will just about scrape through. Till Diwali, there is no great big film and so a few crores will be added

OTT Platforms have learnt that theatre reactions and critics reviews are far away from the audience that they cater . Two films Kootukali and Vaazhai the two Tamil films that are streaming on OTT is a case point. These two films had garner good reviews and Theatre revenues for Kootukali was very poor and got Rs 1 crore in the weekend. Vaazhai on the other hand got good theatre response and got Rs 15 crore gross and the film was made at Rs 12 crore and from Disney Hotstar it got back the total investment.

From the viewers the response was so bad that the OTT platforms are having second thoughts on buying such films. The viewers unanimously termed these films as over rated by critics and too slow and boring.

Take case of Lubber Pandhu. Theatre collection is Rs 35 crore for a Rs 5 crore film and OTT has gone for a Rs 15 crore. Will this also be slammed by OTT viewers ?. The price fixed for such non commercial films that do reasonably well at theatres is now to take a second look as OTT has realised that their audience ( majority) is not driven by critics and that after the initial niche audience, these films have no viewers

Vettaiyan review; Acting and Super theme

 

MJ Cartels

@Mjcartels

#VettaiyanReview: First reports are Super theme, Acting based Movie - #Rajinikanth #AmithabBachan dominated the film - #FahadhFaasil #Rana are Good - Talk is Interval, 2nd half Highlight of the Movie - Good twist with message #Vettaiyan #Anirudh #Coolie #Ritikasingh

Second single in Telugu- Kannada and Hindi trace out Rajini 50 years. Hunter Ka Avataar title in Hindi. 5 shows on First Day in Tamil Nadu. Buyers expect Rs 125 crore on opening and extended weekend Dushera holidays to give Rs250crores.

Nayanthara for BIggBoss Tamil and Rs 400 crore needed to make Indian 3 a hit

Big Boss a Lady Superstar Nayanthara’s office and Banijay are in talks for hosting Big Boss Tamil next season, is what we heard just now. We were told that Vignesh Shivan , hubby , was in talks with the production company. In another related development, it is said that the team that was said to prepare a storyboard for Vijay Sethupathi as host for a promo has been told to put it on hold. Two things that could possibly happened is that VSP team might have asked for the same amount of Rs 150 crores that Kamal was getting or anuthing more than Rs 100 crore plus. Banijay has to convince the sponsors and they are those looking for targeting urban class and Tier 2 cities. Apart from this the audience of BB Tamil is spread across many countries and they are those that view them on HotStar app. This audience would be nil for VSP. Though Maharaja got a good run in OTT and theatre, his previous films were duds. On Netflix, Maharaja termed a hit was no 5 among non English films but Indian 2 which is termed a flop was on 7th spot globally.

At the same time, Nayanthara is an option that loomed big . For one the fact that for first time a full time Lady Host for BB is new concept and no language has tried it and secondly that she is a known face across all regions. Added to this, Nayanthara exposure to advertising and her dress sense could be an added advantage. It was Kushboo who turned host for a Jaya TV show and created a big buzz. Women audience waited to see what Kushboo wore for the show and soon they were copied put out on the market. Ramyakrishnan was also a popular host of TV show. She did step in a for a while in BB as Kamal had taken a break. This season to make it interesting, many film celebrities are to appear every week as guests. They will be mostly those working in films that Disney Hotstar has bought for OTT streaming. Let’s wait to see if Lady Superstar says yes to Banijay. Rs 400 crores Plus to cover Indian 2 losses

Lyca and Red Giant has sat across the table and counted the figures and have come to a conclusion that if Indian 3 has to succeed and it means only covering up the losses for both companies, nothing short of Rs 425 crores Gross has to be collected. Lyca started with a Rs 250 crore budget and after accident. Legal disputes with Shankar over budgets and Covid , it resumed shooting after Red Giant pumped in Rs 150 crores. In India, theatrical revenues for the film was only Rs 83 crores and rest was in overseas. Taking the total amount invested in both parts and it reaches a staggering Rs 500 crores, With revenues from Indian 2 pegged at Rs 53 crores overseas and Rs 81 crores in India and totally Rs 148 cr, both companies need a staggering amount to just cover the investment

Ajith in Kurt Russel role - No takers for Simbhu - Jude Anthany film

A big starrer film in Tamil has to be an adaptation from an Hollywood or Korean film. Now our sources in Hyderabad tells us that Vidamuyurchi starring Ajith is the Kurt Russel film Breakdown released in 1077. The plot - On their cross-country drive, a married couple, Jeff (Kurt Russell) and Amy Taylor (Kathleen Quinlan), experience car trouble after an accident. Stranded in the New Mexico desert, the two catch a break when a passing truck driver, Red Barr (J.T. Walsh), offers to drive Amy to a nearby café to call for help. Meanwhile, Jeff is able to fix the car and make his way to the café, only to find his wife missing and Barr claiming ignorance. Jeff then begins a frenzied search for Amy.

Although made in 1997, mobile phones and video-games both feature in Breakdown, but just not in the prominent way that they would if the film was made today. The locals mock Jeff’s car as being reliant on a computer. Here Magizh Thirumeni has the advantage to freak out on today’s technology and as the original film has lot of car chases , Ajith’s real life car racer comes as an advantage. Actor J T Walsh as the villain truck driver gave a terrific performance, and his glassy-eyed nonchalance works wonders in the film. Arjun essays the role. Yet another baddie is Aarav who essays a truck driver. The film was on Amazon Prime till February 2024. Breakdown reminds one of the all time cult movie The Vanishing.

Jude Anthany pf 2018 Malayalam film fame finds that his Tamil debut film hero Simbu is his biggest hurdle in getting Producers. Jude has a budget of Rs 150 crores for his project. 2018 was made at Rs 26 crores and banked heavily on the subject to pull in audience. It was a calculated risk as the 2018 floods was still fresh in minds of the audience in 2022. It collected Rs 176 crore. Outside Kerala, it did not create any ripples like Manjumel Boys and Premalu. As per a settlement deal, Vels had to get Simbu dates. However after hearing the budget , Producer has said no. AGS and Dil Raju were to jointly collaborate. Here again Dil Raju has a Game Changer hanging on his head and so he is not ready. Jude does not understand that Rs 150 crores budget can be for A listers and it does not include Simbu. Simbu is part of Thug Life and has a Design Periasamy directed film that Kamal’s Production was to produce. Here again, the project might change hands and Vels might step in. Many feel that Jude is in a hurry to be a A listed Directors on lines of Lokesh- ARM- Shankar- Atlee.

Kamal Indian 2 and Rajinikanth Vettaiyan Release Date

Most expected films from Kollywood is Rajinikanth Vettaiyan directed by T J Gananvel and Kamal Haasan's Indian 2.Our sources in trade say that the film Vettaiyan release date is October 17th. Production house has sounded thr word that the biggie is getting ready. Though the word was out that it was a October release and many festival days like Puja, Diwali and Gandhi Jayanthy were cited as possible days. Now the date is set and a grand announcement is ready to roll out.

Already we known that Kamal Haasan Indian 2 is a June release. Now we get a news from m Lyca that the date for Indian 2 is June 13th. You might be aware that Kamal film's OTT rights is with NetFlix and Kalaugnar TV has the satellite rights.

Sun TV deletes Atlee speech on Vijay - Lyca removes tweet on Ajith - Ram Charn tweet against Udhaynidhi

Has DMK started taking Thalapathy vijay as a political rival ? The audio launch of Jawan was telecast by Sun TV without the portion of Atlee praising Vijay with whom he has worked in three films . Fans say that Sun TV blacked out this portion as they consider Vijay a political rival and also as Rajini’s speech on Superstar was trolled by Vijay fans . The function was shot by a media house and not by Sun TV and clips were given to the channel . Sources say that in such cases the entire clip is not played and edited as per channel and advertiser pact. Secondly as Vijay was not in the function , Atlee praise of Vijay was not in tune with Jawan promotion and also they point out that SRK praising Vijay was not edited .Fans are asking for a Sun TV boycott .SRK and daughter Suhana along with Nayanthara and hubby Vignesh visited Tirupati Temple ahead of Jawan release. SRK makes visits to temples before a film release. 75% of advance bookings online in Hyderabad and to a certain extent in Andhra are full and last time this happened was for Paathan and Brahmastra.

Has DMK started taking Thalapathy vijay as a political rival ? The audio launch of Jawan was telecast by Sun TV without the portion of Atlee praising Vijay with whom he has worked in three films . Fans say that Sun TV blacked out this portion as they consider Vijay a political rival and also as Rajini’s speech on Superstar was trolled by Vijay fans . The function was shot by a media house and not by Sun TV and clips were given to the channel . Sources say that in such cases the entire clip is not played and edited as per channel and advertiser pact. Secondly as Vijay was not in the function , Atlee praise of Vijay was not in tune with Jawan promotion and also they point out that SRK praising Vijay was not edited .Fans are asking for a Sun TV boycott .SRK and daughter Suhana along with Nayanthara and hubby Vignesh visited Tirupati Temple ahead of Jawan release. SRK makes visits to temples before a film release. 75% of advance bookings online in Hyderabad and to a certain extent in Andhra are full and last time this happened was for Paathan and Brahmastra.

Ram Charan tweet on Sanatana Dharma is being used by netizens to counter Udhaynidhi Stalin comment on the practice saying that it against social justice and must be eradicated. Using this mainly pro BJP netizens are circulating this tweet but Udhay has replied that he stands by his comment. There is a case against him in Delhi Court on his comment and right from Amit Shah to Maha CM has slammed him. “It is the responsibility of all of us to protect our Sanathan Dharma, ” says the tweet of Ram Charan. His mother is praying and watering Tulsi plant in the post.