Producers, theaters debate where to cut pie

The world’s largest film industry will not be quite as big if there are no theaters to watch a movie, yet that may be the case in Bollywood, where a revenue dispute between multiplex owners and film producers forced a reported freeze on the marketing and release of all films after April 4th.

At the heart of the dispute is how both camps will share box office revenue, officials said. Film producers reportedly sought a 50/50 share in all theater revenue, while multiplex owners countered with a performance-based model based on the film’s budget and star power, etc.

“Marketing and distribution of all new films set to release from April 4th onward has been suspended,” film producer Mukesh Bhatt told reporters in Mumbai on Monday.

According to Priti Shahani, vice-president of Indian Films, a number of big-budget films were scheduled for nationwide release on or after April 4th. She added studios anticipated between $48 million and $60 million in potential revenue with these films.

India’s Hindi film industry — known domestically and internationally as Bollywood — produces between 800 and 1,000 films per year. There is no word whether the freeze will have an impact on India’s other film industries in niche markets, including Tollywood and Kollywood.

Hollywood to remake Bollywood’s 13B

Bollywood is often known for re-hashing some of Hollywood’s favorite movies. In an odd role reversal, this time it is Hollywood who is dipping into the original content of the Indian subcontinent, as the Weinstein Company has reportedly expressed interest in re-making the Bollywood horror flick 13B.

The Hollywood studio purchased the rights to the movie and seeks to make an English version of it after being impressed by its synopsis, it was announced.

“Weinstein Company has indeed shown a keen interest in the film,” a spokesperson with Reliance’s BIG Entertainment told reporters. “They have asked us to send them over the entire script of the film. Though they are seeing the film as well, they want to go through the script in detail to consider its adaptation as per western sensibilities.”

Reliance BIG Pictures produced 13B, which starred R. Madhavan and Neetu Chandra. Reminiscent of Poltergeist, the focus of the Bollywood horror flick is a television set causing turmoil in a family’s home as it displays on its screen real events about to happen to them.

Interest from the Weinstein Company was warmly received by Bollywood insiders, according to reports. Founded by Harvey and Bob Weinstein, the studio produced films such as The Matador (with Pierce Brosnan) and Derailed (with Jennifer Aniston).