Toxic Photo: GSM
Patna: Yash’s gangster drama Toxic, which released in theatres on August 26, is nearing the end of its theatrical run as a major box office failure. The estimated Rs 500 crore film, directed by Geetu Mohandas, opened strongly but crashed due to negative word-of-mouth, and its digital rights are now reportedly facing a drastic drop in valuation . According to recent reports, offers for the post-theatrical streaming rights have fallen to as low as Rs 30 crore after the team had earlier sought more than Rs 200 crore .
Toxic crossed the Rs 100 crore mark on its opening day, with the Hindi dub leading the revenue . However, by its second day, collections plummeted by over 60 percent to Rs 45.10 crore, and the film later recorded its lowest collection of Rs 3.81 crore on day eight . In total, Toxic has achieved a worldwide gross of Rs 337.80 crore, but with its reported high budget, the film is heading towards an estimated loss of Rs 300 crore, which industry estimates suggest would be the biggest loss ever recorded for a single feature film in India .
According to a source cited by Bollywood Hungama, the makers had a pre-release offer of Rs 150 crore from a leading platform but turned it down. ‘The Toxic team had an offer of Rs. 150 crores from a leading platform, but the demand from the team was a lot higher, north of Rs. 200 crores. Yash was confident that the film would do blockbuster business in theatres, and that in turn, would boost the post-theatrical OTT prices to Rs. 200 crore plus. But the results are exactly opposite, as the digital players are now offering an amount as low as Rs. 30 crore for the post-theatrical streaming rights for all languages,’ the source said . Zee5 is reportedly the platform that has made the highest current offer .
The makers are reportedly contemplating damage control by creating a new edit specifically for the digital version to attract a better price from streaming platforms. ‘The makers are now contemplating a completely new edit for the digital version, with the hope of fetching a bigger amount than what’s on the table. The discussions are underway to figure out a way to reduce the losses, one of which is a new cut for OTT,’ the source revealed . The satellite recovery is also expected to be almost nil owing to the largely adult format of the storytelling .
As of now, the digital rights of Toxic remain unsold . The negotiations for the film’s OTT deal continue, with its final theatrical collections and any potential new edit likely to determine the eventual scale of the makers’ losses.
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