Uncertainty over the release of Hollywood film Avatar: The Way of Water persists in Kerala after the Film Exhibitors United Organisation of Kerala (FEUOK) announced on Tuesday, November 29, that the makers will not be screening the film. The decision is owing to some alleged disagreements between the theatre owners and the Hollywood producers over revenue sharing terms. K Vijayakumar, president of FEUOK, said in a press conference that the producers of theJames Cameron film are asking for 60% of the revenue, while 50-55% is the norm. They also announced that the film will not be screened in close to 400 theatres under the FEUOK.
Meanwhile, Malayalam producer and theatre owner Liberty Basheer, president of the Kerala Film Exhibitors Federation, has said that the 200 theatres operating under the federation would be screening the film. Speaking to TNM, he said on Wednesday, “The theatres that are available will be screening the film. We have not reached a final agreement on the profit-sharing deal. We want to discuss and bring down their share to 55%.”
Avatar: The Way of Water, a sequel to Canadian filmmaker James Cameron’s hit 2009 film Avatar, is slated for theatrical release on December 16. It is set in a distant future on a planet named Pandora, where inhabitants of earth have set up a mining operation, threatening the survival of the planet’s humanoid natives Na’vi.
Cameron is also producing Avatar: The Way of Water with Titanic producer Jon Landau. The film has screenplay by James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver. The cast includes actors Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Giovanni Ribisi, Dileep Rao, and Matt Gerald who would be reprising their roles from the original, with actor Sigourney Weaver returning in a different role. New additions to the cast include Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement, and Brendan Cowell.