Baby John: Unni Mukundan's Marco replaces Varun Dhawan actioner in North India, A-rated film to get 225 shows

Varun Dhawan's action flick Baby John released in theatres on December 25, 2024, on the occasion of Christmas but it appears that the film has failed to add to the festive cheer. Reports say that Varun Dhawan's movie is seeing a rather lacklustre run at the box office, prompting cinemas to look for a replacement. And surprisingly, the Hindi version of Marco, a Malayalam action film, is turning out to be sought after and hence, taking up more shows that were earlier reserved for the Bollywood film in North India.

Baby John vs Marco

Bollywood Hungama reported that Varun Dhawan's action Baby John opened at Rs 11 crore, much below its expectations, on Christmas and the numbers further dropped in the following days. This declining trend prompted the cinemas to go into damage control mode and look for an alternative. As per the Bollywood Hungama report, Unni Mukundan-starrer Marco has emerged as a more profitable choice with more shows being added to the Hindi version of the film.

The cinemas have increased the shows for the Hindi version of the A-rated Malayalam movie from 34 to 140 on Saturday, while the number will go further up to 225 on Sunday. This is a positive development for Marco as Malayalam films seldom give competition for their Hindi counterparts, especially in the A-list centres.

Also read: Marco Hindi version gets 140 plus extra shows; Unni Mukundan’s film gearing up for a massive second weekend 

Quoting a source, the Bollywood Hungama report further stated that there is a curiosity to know more about Marco, billed as the most violent Malayalam film.

Marco release

Unni Mukundan-starrer Marco, the Malayalam actioner, released in theatres on December 20, 2024, and has been seeing a terrific run. Marco has already collected nearly Rs 60 crore worldwide within eight days at the box office. 

Also read: Marco Day 8 box office collection: Film breaks Prithviraj Sukumaran's Aadujeevitham record, speeds to Rs 60 Cr 

The action-packed film, with gory violence, released in five languages and seemed to impress audiences, irrespective of the language. Needless to say, the Hindi version of Marco is also performing well. The film, directed by Haneef Adeni, will also release in Telugu states on January 1, 2025 .

On the other hand, Varun Dhawan’s film also starred south actress Keerthy Suresh and Wamiqa Gabbi. The film, helmed by Kalees, is a remake of Atlee and Vijay’s Tamil film Theri.