Due to poor collections, shows of Baby John replaced with Hindi version of Marco; Industry SHOCKED as PVR Inox Pictures manages to release Varun Dhawan-starrer in just 4 out of 275 single screens in CP Berar

The much-awaited film Baby John, starring Varun Dhawan, is having a disappointing run at the box office. It opened on Wednesday, December 25 at Rs. 11.25 crores, which was below expectations. Yet, there was hope that it would hold well the next day, which was also a working day. Shockingly, the number plummeted to Rs. 5.13 crores. On Friday, the numbers should have been the same or grown. Instead, the collections went further down. At this rate, its weekend collections would be under Rs. 30 crores and it won’t get the benefit of the holiday season and clean period until Republic Day. Realizing that the footfalls are not encouraging, theatres have already started replacing the shows of the film.

An exhibition source told Bollywood Hungama, “On Thursday, the film suffered a huge drop which made it clear for the exhibitors that it won’t even grow on Friday. As a result, cinemas across the country have reduced its showcasing. Meanwhile, the Hindi version of the Malayalam film Marco is gradually gaining traction. There’s a curiosity to see it as many are claiming that Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s ultra-violent film Animal (2023), looks like a kiddie movie, in front of Marco because of its excessive violent scenes. Hence, there’s a demand for it and Baby John’s shows are being replaced with that of Marco and also films like Pushpa 2 and Mufasa: The Lion King.”

MovieMax Wonder Mall, Thane, near Mumbai will play 5 shows of Marco in Hindi on Sunday, December 29 while Baby John will have only 3 shows. In Mumbai’s popular G7 multiplex, Baby John was initially playing in 1000-seater Gaiety and also 2 shows in Gossip. The Varun Dhawan-starrer has now been shifted to Galaxy, which has 200 seats less than Gaiety while Pushpa 2 is back again in Gaiety. Exhibition sources say that on the weekdays, Baby John’s showcasing will be further reduced.

The curious case of CP Berar

Meanwhile, PVR Inox Pictures, the distributors of Baby John, have also come under the scanner for their faulty distribution strategy. They were unable to plan the showcasing on time and faced the heat from Anil Thadani’s AA Films, the distributors of Pushpa 2, who gave them a tough fight. And now, it has come to light that in a major part of India, Baby John barely got any single-screen cinemas.

A trade source told us, “The CP Berar territory consists of the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, Southern and Eastern Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. There are 275 single screens in this circuit and shockingly, Baby John is playing in only 4 single-screen theatres! Baby John is a mass-appealing film and should have got showcasing in at least 30% of the single screens, if not more. Alas, the distributors were able to procure less than 3% of the screens. This is unprecedented.”

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Varun Reflects on His Journey and Genre Choices in Baby John

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