Ravi Teja’s Irumudi is turning into an outright box-office tsunami, and the film is now facing a very unusual problem: there are simply not enough theatres to accommodate the audience.
Weekend tickets are becoming extremely difficult to get, with lakhs of moviegoers reportedly struggling to find seats. In several places, screens are being taken away from other films and added to Irumudi. Even then, the shortage is severe, especially in B and C centers.
The buyers are now admitting that nobody anticipated this kind of response. But Irumudi has a big threat coming when Yash’s Toxic arrives on August 26.
Toxic is arriving on Wednesday, August 26, to take advantage of the long weekend. But it’s not going to be easy for Yash. Irumudi has built a strong connection with audiences, with many viewers returning to theatres, particularly for the Mallepoola Pallaki song and the overall theatrical experience.
For Toxic, therefore, word of mouth will be the biggest weapon. The film offers a completely different experience, with violence, guns, bloodshed and dollops of sex mainly for the Gen-Z audience. Anything less than positive public talk could hurt the film.
Ticket pricing could make the battle even more interesting. If Toxic, a dubbed Kannada film, arrives with significantly higher prices, it could face additional backlash. Only excellent word of mouth can overcome that problem.
The biggest battle may happen in the Nizam region.
Irumudi will reportedly face a huge shortage of screens from Wednesday, as Toxic is expected to take over several theatres. Theatre chains linked to SVC and Asian are expected to shift most of their screens towards Toxic.
Mythri Movie Makers is backing Irumudi, while Toxic reportedly enters the Nizam market with stronger theatre-chain commitments. So, this is not merely a clash between two films. There is also a distribution and theatre-allocation battle happening behind the scenes.
If Toxic gets poor talk, exhibitors could quickly return screens to an established and accepted film like Irumudi by the coming weekend. But if Toxic gets HIT talk, the situation will change completely.
As the new and bigger-budget release, Toxic will naturally have an advantage in screen allocation. Irumudi has the momentum, word of mouth and audience support. Toxic has Yash and the advantage of being the big new release.
If Toxic explodes, Irumudi will have a serious fight. If Toxic fails, Irumudi could simply continue its box-office tsunami.
Irumudi has created the wave. Toxic is arriving to see if it can stop it.
