Leo release: Theatre owner says issues with distributor reason for delay in ticket booking

Amid concerns over ticket reservation for Tamil star Vijay's upcoming film Leo, Archana Kalpathi, owner of AGS Cinemas in Chennai, said that this was because of issues with the distributor. "We have not been able to open #Leo bookings because of terms issue with the distributor. We regret the inconvenience caused to all our regular patrons and thank you for waiting patiently. Will update if there are any developments by 6:00 pm today @agscinemas," Archana posted on X (formerly Twitter).

The film, which brings together Vijay with the popular director Lokesh Kanagaraj, is scheduled to release on October 19, Thursday. Fans who have been eagerly waiting to book their tickets in advance were disheartened to find that bookings in several movie houses had not opened even by Tuesday. 

A disagreement between theatre owners and the film's distributors appears to be the reason for the delay. Those in the know said that the distributors have been demanding a higher percentage of the profits than before and the theatre owners are not ready to give them that. 

Constraints on show timings -- as ordered by the Tamil Nadu government owing to several unfortunate accidents that had even caused deaths of fans -- have already limited the prospects of theatre owners. When TNM spoke to the Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association, its head Tirupur Subramaniam said that such issues were common ahead of a big release and it would soon be resolved.

Read: Can’t book tickets for Vijay’s Leo in Chennai? Here’s why