'Theri' pre-release business (Tamil Nadu): Vijay-starrer's theatrical rights sold for Rs. 49.40 crore

The makers of Ilayathalapathy Vijay-starrer "Theri" have recovered a good amount of their investment even before its release. The movie, which is hitting the screens Thursday, April 14, has collected Rs. 49.40 crore from the sale of the Tamil Nadu theatrical rights.

As per Tamil Box Office1 website, the Chengalpet region contributed big, with Impossible Films buying them for Rs. 9.5 crore in the region. Coimbatore comes second, having fetched Rs. 8.5 crore.

The distribution rights for Madurai have been sold to Impala Theatres for Rs. 6.9 crore, followed by the Trichy-Thanjavur region, where the rights have been acquired by Green Screen Narayanaswamy for Rs. 5.6 crore.

7G Siva has bagged the rights of the Salem region for Rs. 4.6 crore, Dr Albert has acquired the South Arcot rights for Rs. 3.40 crore, Mannan Films has acquired the Tirunelveli & Kanyakumari rights for Rs. 3.25 crore and North Arcot rights have been sold to Devraj for Rs. 3.15 crore.

The Chennai rights, valued at Rs. 4.5 crore, are with SPI Cinemas.

It is said to be the highest-ever pre-business collections made by a Vijay film in Tamil Nadu. His previous movie  "Puli" had collected Rs. 39 crore. 

The makers of "Theri" have reportedly raked in over Rs. 35 crore from the sale of the rights of other regions, including overseas rights. The film will see the light of the day in more than 350 screens in Tamil Nadu, close to 100 screens in Kerala, 150 screens in Andhra Pradesh and 70 screens in Karnataka. 

Among the overseas centres, "Theri," which has Samantha and Amy Jackson as the female leads, is releasing big in the U.S. (145 screens) and Malaysia (200 screens). 

[1 lakh = 100,000 | 1 crore = 10 million | 100 crore = 1 billion]