Rekhachithram producer reveals how Marco box office collection can triple: 'There's an untapped market for it in...'

Rekhachithram producer Venu Kunnappilly, who had earlier collaborated with Marco star Unni Mukundan in Mamangam, talked about the untapped markets that the violent action film is yet to explore.

Unni Mukundan in Marco and (R) Asif Ali and Anaswara Rajan in Rekhachithram

While the theatrical run for Unni Mukundan’s Marco could be coming to an end at the Indian box office, Rekhachithram producer Venu Kunnappilly recently revealed that the makers of the violent action-thriller can still explore untapped markets to maximize its box office potential.

Venu earlier worked with Unni in Mamangam which was touted to be the most expensive Malayalam movie at that time. He credited the marketing campaigns of Marco for its astounding success that has helped it enter the Rs 100 Cr club in box office earnings within a month of its release.

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Rekhachithram producer reveals how Marco can increase its box-office potential

The producer himself had backed the second highest-grossing Malayalam film ever, 2018: Everyone Is A Hero and has also funded Asif Ali’s latest mystery thriller Rekhachithram, which became the first superhit of Malayalam in 2025 grossing over Rs 28.3 Cr in its first four days.

On Marco, he said, in an interview with Movie World Media, “There's a huge market for movies of this (violent action) genre abroad. Marco is not a story-based movie, it's more action-oriented. So, there's market for these movies in the Far East, Latin America and Africa. It can collect even more if released in these centres. It could be dubbed in languages such as French and be released in Brazil and Argentina where there are audiences for such movies.”

Marco is also gearing up for its South Korea release where it will be screened in more theatres than Ba ahubali 2: The Conclusion, according to its makers.

Venu Kunnappilly credits Marco’s marketing campaign

The producer also lauded the marketing campaign of Marco, which gave the movie extensive reach outside Kerala as well. “Its makers studied the market well. They knew that the film was rated A and could only have audience who are aged 18+ and above. That means a lot of family audience won't watch the film in theatres. So, they must have targeted audiences who had watched movies like KGF and even similar violent Hollywood movies that have become superhits in India, despite their 18+ rating,” he said.

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Venu pointed out that to make up for the niche audience, the producers would have allotted an extensive budget for its marketing. “Their promotions, especially on social media, was done a scale not seen before for a Malayalam film. They must have spent that much for marketing as well. Every film has a marketing budget, and maybe for the makers of Marco, that must have been different from the other movies here,” he added.

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