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Film trade experts believe that Shah Rukh Khan's multi-crore super-hero flick Ra.One, jointly produced by his company Red Chillies Entertainment and its partner Eros International, has made profits more than a month before its theatrical release on October 26.

The film, which has been produced at an estimated budget of R125 crore with an additional spend of R15-20 crore on marketing is expected to rake in revenues anywhere between R250-270 crore from multiple streams, including domestic theatres, overseas distribution, satellite and music rights, digital and home videos, merchandising and gaming.

"Ra.One must have cost its makers R150 crore and the film will not only recover its costs, but also make high profits," says film trade analyst Taran Adarsh."

According to people familiar with the movie business, Ra.One's domestic box office collection is estimated to be R100 crore in the five-day opening weekend, starting Diwali. "The festive weekend and Shah Rukh's star power could result in R100 crore in revenue in the opening weekend. The following two weeks could yield an additional R40-50 crore, as the film will enjoy a clear run at the box office, with no other major releases," says Adarsh.

Co-producer Eros International, the distributor of the movie overseas, expects collections of R45-50 crore from foreign markets. "Shah Rukh's last film My Name Is Khan collected R40 crore abroad. We're expecting a 15-20% increase in collection from overseas theatres for Ra.One," says Kamal Jain, chief financial officer at Eros International. He adds, "We're releasing the film across 3,000 screens in India and abroad, of which 500 screens will be 3D. That will mean higher recovery."

Besides theatrical revenue, Ra.One is poised to collect about R70-75 crore from alternate streams. According to people familiar with the broadcaster, Star India has won the satellite rights of the film for R35 crore, while T-Series has paid R15 crore for the music rights. In addition, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) has partnered with Red Chillies to develop a PlayStation game on the movie.

"We've dished out about $1 million or R4.8 crore to develop the Ra.One game on our PS2 and PS3 platforms, as well as advertise the product to appeal to consumers," says Atindriya Bose, country manager at PlayStation.

Red Chillies has also collaborated with UTV Indiagames to develop digital comics based on the film's characters and fast food chain McDonald's India to offer Ra.One toys to its patrons.

Eros International believes that these ancillary revenue streams could yield about R12-15 crore for the producers.

Courtesy – Financial Express