Shah Rukh's 'King' earns Tk 871 crore before release, with production cost at Tk 655 crore
Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan's next film is 'King'. The film will mark the Bollywood debut of his daughter Suhana Khan. A glimpse of the film released a few months ago sparked discussion among fans over Shah Rukh's look and action.
The song 'Tu Mil Jaye' from the film was released on Monday (2 November). Shah Rukh's action and his romance with Deepika Padukone in the song drew attention, and the song passed 39.5 million views in a single day.
'King' is being produced jointly by Red Chillies Entertainment and Marflix, the production companies of Shah Rukh Khan and director Siddharth Anand. The production cost has been set at Rs 400 crore, although the budget began at Rs 200 crore and rose as shooting and production progressed.
The Rs 400 crore does not include Shah Rukh Khan's fee, though Siddharth Anand's fee is included. Adding Shah Rukh's fee would take the production cost to an estimated Rs 500 crore, or Tk 655.63 crore in Bangladeshi money. Print and advertising for the release could cost a further Rs 40 crore or so.
On that count, 'King' is set to become the second most expensive film in Bollywood history. Ahead of it are the 'Ramayan' series films, each budgeted at more than Rs 1,000 crore.
The earnings figures are also large. 'King' has received an overseas minimum guarantee (MG) of Rs 175 crore, the highest in Indian cinema history. Pen Marudhar has made an advance deal of Rs 250 crore for domestic theatrical rights, taking theatrical-rights income alone to Rs 425 crore.
There have also been large deals beyond theatres. Netflix bought the film's digital rights for Rs 150 crore; the deal is linked to box-office success, meaning the digital income could rise further if the film does well in theatres.
The film's music rights sold for Rs 65 crore and its satellite rights for Rs 25 crore. In total, 'King' has earned Rs 665 crore before release, or Tk 871.98 crore in Bangladeshi money.
Alongside Shah Rukh, 'King' stars Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Arshad Warsi, Deepika Padukone, Rani Mukerji, Abhishek Bachchan, Kharaj Mukherjee, Suhana Khan and Akshay Oberoi. Kareena Kapoor Khan will appear in a special role.
If all goes to plan, 'King' will be released worldwide on 24 December.
