Shares of Eros International Media were trading at Rs. 231.05, apiece, up almost 1 percent from their previous close, on the Bombay Stock Exchange at around 1 p.m., ahead of the company's latest film "Dishoom" starring Varun Dhawan-Jacqueline Fernandez.
The film is slated to hit screens on July 29 and faces an uncertain situation amid reports that the full movie has been leaked online, triggering fears of a tepid box office performance. This is in sharp contrast to Eros benefitting from the box office success of "Housefull 3" that raked in Rs. 100 crore in its opening weekend.
Eros is an entertainment solutions company producing and distributing Hindi and regional films worldwide.
Eros earned a net profit of Rs. 214 crore on total revenues of Rs. 1,603 crore during 2015-16. It is yet to declare its first quarter results. The company is heavily banking on "Dishoom" and other films in its line-up to drive growth.
"We have a very exciting film slate for the upcoming quarters, which include films such as 'Rock On 2', ' 'Dishoom', 'Baar Baar Deko', 'Shivaay', Banjo, Singham 3 together with a diversified slate of other regional releases. On the whole, FY 2017 will be seeing an exciting movie repertoire of over 65 contentdriven Eros films in Hindi and other regional languages, making it the biggest future slate by any studio in India," Sunil Lulla, executive vice chairman & MD of Eros International Media Ltd., said in its earnings presentation in May.
"Dishoom" joins the likes of "Udta Punjab" and Great Grand Masti" that were leaked online before their theatrical release. The fear of the leak affecting its box office performance has prompted the "Dishoom" team to seek legal remedy for restraining Internet service providers and other platforms from making available the Rohit Dhawan-directorial.
"Dishoom" has been produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and Eros International Media Ltd.
For companies such as Eros and Balaji Telefilms, the issue is directly related to investors as box office success is directly related to their financial performance and by extension, performance on the stock markets.