Small southern films see windfall from OTT sales
AIt is common for hits to command up to 25% of total box-office collections as acquisition fee, say OTT execs
host of small-budget southern language films have witnessed great windfall from the sale of OTT rights after emerging as sleeper hits at the box office.
Titles such as Premalu, Manjummel Boys and Lover were not snapped up by streaming platforms before the theatrical release, given that OTT services are going slow on acquisitions after burning their fingers with several big-ticket titles not bringing adequate returns.
However, these movies later managed nearly twice the streaming rates they would have got before cinematic release, based on the potential OTT players might have seen in them.
Manjummel Boys, a low-budget survival thriller produced at less than ₹10 crore, has made over ₹200 crore worldwide. Premalu, a romantic comedy, also made for the same amount, has earned over ₹130 crore. Lover, a romantic drama, costing less than ₹5 crore, has made double its investment by earning around ₹10 crore.
Streaming platform executives say it is common for hits to command up to 25% of total box-office collections as acquisition fee, especially if platforms see value in them at a time subscriptions have hit the ceiling and few originals are truly making a mark.
“If the film hasn’t locked a deal before theatrical release and then breaks out at the box office, it is definitely in an advantageous position,” said a senior executive at a streaming platform, requesting not to be named. “Platforms are always ready to pay for movies that have been successful at the box office, especially if they feel their target audience will be able to relate to it.”
The executive added that it is common for OTT platforms to take the initiative to dub such films in different languages, even if the makers had refrained from a multilingual release in theatres, sticking to the native language to get the authenticity and nuances right.
For example, Disney+ Hotstar is streaming Manjummel Boys in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada other than Malayalam even though the theatrical release did not see any dubbed versions.