PremiumUpendra’s UI bookings: Single-screen EMS flying off the shelf; multiplexes to follow suit?
Upendra’s UI bookings: Advance booking for UI at multiplexes is expected to open on December 18, but will there be early morning shows?
Last Updated: 01.51 PM, Dec 18, 2024
Advance bookings of Real Star Upendra’s return to direction, UI, opened at select single screens on December 17 and the response to it has been nothing short of phenomenal. Within hours, most shows either had fast-filling or sold-out status, with the only remaining seats in some of these halls in the front row only. Most of these shows begin at 6.30 am, although there are a few with start times 15-30 minutes earlier in Bengaluru.
Will multiplexes have EMS for UI?
Given this response, the expectation is that multiplexes will follow suit and begin UI shows around the same time. However, Suprith TS, the business head of KVN Productions, which is distributing UI in Karnataka, tells us that audiences who have been waiting for multiplex bookings to open will get to see the film with shows from 9 am or 9.30 am only.
While Suprith declines to furnish a reason behind this decision, a source from a national multiplex chain says that a clause in the agreement with the distributors of Pushpa 2 is the reason that UI will not get early morning shows. However, he added that discussions are still on to figure out a workaround, with bookings slated to open on the evening of December 18.
UI, produced by KP Srikanth and G Manoharan, will be released in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi. In Karnataka, Suprith had said that they were targeting 225-250 screens, with over 1,000 shows. Most of these would be for the Kannada original version, although, other language versions will also be made available. Bookings for these have not opened yet.
Meanwhile, bookings for the Telugu version of UI have also opened and are off to a flying start. Upendra has a sizeable fan following in the neighboring state and will benefit from the fact that there are no major Telugu releases for Christmas. In Tamil Nadu, there’s Viduthalai 2, while Kerala has Marco.
In multiplexes, besides Pushpa 2, which is still holding on to a sizeable number of shows, UI faces competition from the big Disney release, Mufasa, which will not have a Kannada dubbed version.