Baahubali 2: Film earns Rs 500 crore before release. Here are records it has already broken

If reports are to believed, director SS Rajamouli's upcoming film Baahubali: The Conclusion has made some unprecedented pre-release business for a movie produced down south. It is said that the film starring Prabhas, Rana Daggubati has already raked in more than Rs 500 crore, which is mostly from the sales of its theatrical rights.

Baahubali 2 will release in three languages, including Telugu, Tamil and Hindi. Bollywood's favourite filmmaker Karan Johar's Dharma Productions is presenting the Hindi version of the film. And it has reportedly paid a record price for its theatrical rights that will give Bollywood's biggest titles a run for their money.

According to a pre-release break-up provided by industry tracker Ramesh Bala, the theatrical rights of the film's Hindi version has fetched a whopping Rs 120 crore. Baahubali: The Beginning, that was released in 2015, became the first south Indian movie dubbed in Hindi to collect Rs 100 crore at the Bollywood box office.

The film, meanwhile, has made more than Rs 130 crore from the sales of its theatrical rights in Telugu states. Its Tamil Nadu rights have fetched Rs 47 crore, which is the highest price paid for a non-Rajinikanth film. In Kerala, the sale of film's distribution rights has made Rs 10 crore, in Karnataka Rs 45 crore. The distribution rights of North America has also earned Rs 45 crore while the USA numbers are still unknown.

This is in addition to, as we reported earlier, the record-breaking deal the filmmakers have made with Sony TV Network for the satellite rights of its Hindi



version. Sony TV Network has bought the Hindi satellite rights reportedly for a whopping price of Rs 51 crore. It is the highest revenue generated by a dubbed film so far, besides the highest ever the network has paid for a regional film for television screening. According to reports, this is the highest price for original Hindi films.

The satellite rights of all versions of Baahubali: The Beginning had fetched Rs 45 crore. The price for the second part has skyrocketed due to the fan frenzy the film has created with its first part.

The satellite rights of Telugu version have been sold for Rs 26 crore, while the business details of its Tamil and Malayalam versions are still unknown.

The pre-release business of the film is likely to be more than Rs 500 crore, including sales of its US theatre rights, satellite rights of its Tamil and Malayalam versions and its audio rights.

These pre-release trade numbers show the massive amount of interests and popularity that the film enjoys around the world. The visual effects of Baahubali 2 are also expected to be superior compared to its first part, which set the benchmark for making period films in India. The film is in post-production stage and about 33 studios around the world have been working on the film's special effects as the countdown for its release as already begun.

Baahubali 2, directed by Rajamouli, has Prabhas, Anushka Shetty, Rana Daggubati, Tamannaah among others in important roles and is bankrolled under Arka Media Works banner. The film hits the screen on April 28 this year.