Ilayathalapathy Vijay has a good overseas market. The U.K. is one of the places where the actor enjoys a strong fan following. His films in this region have often done impressive business and the industry has high hopes from his latest movie "Theri" and expect it to perform well in this centre.
Ayngaran International has acquired the U.K. theatrical rights of "Theri." The buzz is that they are planning to release the film in a huge number of screens. It is seen as an indication by many that the Tamil flick would break the actor's existing box office record and create history.
"Kaththi" is the highest-grossing film of Vijay in the U.K. The Diwali release had made £333,522 in its lifetime after earning £222,581 in its first weekend from 56 screens. The industry had expected his next movie "Puli" to shatter this record but it failed to work big time at the box office.
"Puli" was released in 53 screens and ended its lifetime collection at £202,356. It had collected £143,505 in its opening weekend. The movie had garnered negative reviews from the audience and this destroyed its prospects in the U.K. Moreover, the flick had failed to garner a good pre-release buzz like "Kaththi" and it had some impact on its opening.
However, "Theri" has a very good pre-release buzz and the makers are leaving no stone unturned to cash in on the occasion. Hence, people hope that Vijay's latest film would surpass the lifetime collection of "Kaththi."
"Theri" is an action-thriller, written and directed by Atlee Kumar. Kalaipuli S Dhanu-produced flick has Samantha and Amy Jackson playing the female lead roles. It is expected to release in over 1,500 screens worldwide April 14 for the Tamil New Year.