Record $7M Advance For American Rights To Baahubali:The Conclusion

Great India Films had stumped up more than $7 million for North American theatrical rights to the sequel to director S.S. Rajamouli's 2015 blockbuster Baahubali: The Beginning.

The fee for Baahubali: The Conclusion, which covers Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam rights, is a record for an Indian film. Confirming the deal, which was firstreported by Telugu360.com, Great India Films' Sudhakar Reddy K told me, " We paid over $7 million as royalty for all the languages for its theatrical rights . Yes it is a record for any Indian movie by miles."

Baahubali: The Beginning amassed more than 600 crore ($90.2 million) worldwide, including more than $7 million in the U.S. The sequel, which sees Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anuskha Shetty, Tamannaah, Nasser, Ramya Krishna and Satyaraj reprise their roles, will open worldwide in late April. Great India Films, which was founded 12 years ago by Reddy and Soma Kancherla, will release the title on more than 1,000 screens in North America.

The producers, Arka Media Works' Shobu Yarlagadda and Prasad Devineni, originally sold the film to K-Entertainments for a reported 95 crore ($14.2 million), which included the Tamil domestic market and overseas rights for Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam.

But that deal unraveled and Great India Films stepped in. "Prabhas has been instrumental in helping us secure the rights," Sudhakar said. The firm has distributed about 50 titles, including the Telugu hits Pokiri, the first Baahubali(in India only), Adhurs and Mirchi.

Telugu360.com editor Krishna, who tracks the North American B.O., described the deal as fitting recognition for regional cinema in India, especially Telugu cinema. "From a trade perspective, it was bought for four times the trade value of movies starring such Telugu superstars as Mahesh Babu and Pawan Kalyan," he told me. "The Telugu version of Baahubali grossed $7 million in North America and the Tamil version made $900,000. Baahubali 2 has to gross around $10 million to break even."

The combined budget for both films is 250 crore ($37.5 million). The sequel, which is in the final stages of shooting, is told in a series of flashbacks starting in 2009, before reeling back to 1609 AD. It answers the question posed in the first film: Why did Kattappa (played by Satyaraj) kill the emperor Baahubali (Prabhas)?

Last week Rajamouli and actors Rana Daggubati and Prabhas held a media conference in Hyderabad to tub thump the multi-platform release which includes an animated series and comic books (which will have story lines separate from the movies) and a Virtual Reality experience which will be available in about 200 theaters in India one month before the premiere.

Also Rajamouli revealed that "Baahubali part three is on the cards."