Kerala Theatre Owners Initiate 2-Day Strike in Protest of Early OTT Releases including 2018 : All the Details
Tovino Thomas’ highly successful Malayalam film “2018” has been enjoying a successful theatrical run. After its astounding box office collections, the film is now gearing up for an OTT release. Surprisingly, within just five weeks of its theatrical run, the movie is all set to stream on Sony LIV starting from June 7.
Kerala Theatre Owners Protest
The Malayalam film, which stars Tovino Thomas and Kunchacko Boban in lead roles, has already become a box office hit. However, the announcement of its digital debut has left several Kerala theatre owners upset. As a result, the theatre owners have called for a strike on June 7 and 8 as a protest against the early OTT release of “2018”. They believe that releasing the blockbuster Malayalam film on an OTT platform within five weeks of its theatrical release has deprived them of the opportunity to earn a potential box office collection of Rs 200 crore.
Additionally, reports suggest that theatre owners are also unhappy with the digital release of another Malayalam film, “Pachuvum Athbuthavilakkum”.
Check the tweets:
Theatre owners are not only disappointed with the early release of #2018Movie but also with #PachuvumAthbuthavilakkum
— Friday Matinee (@VRFridayMatinee) June 6, 2023
#Kerala theater owners has called for a strike on June 7th & 8th as a protest against early #OTT releases of #Malayalam films. Recent industry hit #2018Movie is to be shown on #OTT in less than 5 weeks of its theatrical release! pic.twitter.com/YVvN1XGnmE
— Sreedhar Pillai (@sri50) June 6, 2023
Insights into “2018”
The survival thriller film in Malayalam, “2018”, had its screenplay developed by Jude Anthany Joseph and Akhil P. Dharmajan. The movie draws inspiration from the true events of the devastating 2018 Kerala floods. Alongside Tovino Thomas and Kunchacko Boban, the film features renowned actors such as Vineeth Sreenivasan, Asif Ali, National award-winner Aparna Balamurali, Aju Varghese, and others in key roles. Despite the ongoing protests, fans of “2018” eagerly await its digital release, marking a new chapter in the film’s journey.
