Confirmed! No early morning shows for Leo, Thalapathy Vijay fans upset

It's an understatement to say that Thalapathy Vijay's upcoming movie Leo is one of the most awaited movie events in Tamil Nadu. The demand and the craze for the movie is reaching fever pitch among movie-going audiences as its release date draws closer. However, the stakeholders in Tamil Nadu will not be able to fully cash in on the unprecedented craze around the movie owing to the restrictions imposed by the state government. 

Producer G Dhananjeyan has ruled out the possibility of screening an early morning show to expand the movie's earnings on its opening day. For many years now, the showing of big star movies in theatres across Tamil Nadu began as early as 4 AM. 

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However, earlier this year the government banned early morning shows. Reason: a fan of Ajith Kumar died while celebrating the release of Thunivu in Chennai, prompting the government to impose restrictions on early morning fan shows. 

As per the new rules, theatres are only allowed to run four shows every day, barring Sundays, national holidays and festivals. If the theatres want to run extra shows, they will have to seek permission from the government.

No excepetion for Leo

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In light of this new rule, many theatres start their shows as late as 11:30 AM as the footfalls in cinemas peak during the evening and night shows. 

Even though Leo is one of the biggest releases this year, early-morning fan shows are highly unlikely to happen in Tamil Nadu. "The government didn't allow early morning shows even for Superstar Rajinikanth's Jailer. If they didn't make an exception for Jailer, they are unlikely to make an exception for Leo," Dhananjeyan said in a recent interview. 

Dhananjeyan also noted that theatres risk facing action from the government, if they violate this norm. His comments have sparked heated discussions on social media, with many fans venting their frustration. While Tamil Nadu may not get to watch before 9 AM, the shows in other states of the country will start as early as 5 AM. 

Written and directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, besides Vijay, Leo also stars Trisha, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Sarja, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Mansoor Ali Khan and Mysskin. Leo is due in cinemas on October 19.