Multiplex operator PVR is excited about the upcoming big-ticket Hollywood releases of this year. India's largest multiplex operator is hopeful that Hollywood franchises like James Bond, Avengers and Mission Impossible will have its cash registers ringing in the next fiscal year beginning April 2015. For multiplex operators the last quarter of the fiscal (January-March) is traditionally a muted period due to the exam season.
"If you look at Hollywood for example we have a big release to start the year in April with Fast and the Furious 7, which is a very big franchise and April 23 we have Avengers which is again a very very big franchise. And during the year we have big films like Star Wars, we have got a James Bond film this year, we have got Mission Impossible 5 coming up this year," Nitin Sood, chief financial officer, PVR told NDTV.
Furious 7 will see the late actor Paul Walker come to life on the big screen, while the James Bond film - Spectre -will see Daniel Craig in his fourth appearance as the British spy.
Mission Impossible 5 will see Tom Cruise return as Ethan Hunt, while The Avengers franchise returns with - Age of Ultron - complete with its star studded cast of Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Samuel L Jackson, Idris Elba, Mark Ruffalo and others.
Star Wars will come out with its seventh installment - The Force Awakens - with Harrison Ford as Han Solo.
"I think the content pipeline really picks up starting April and we have a fantastic line up of great Hollywood films this year, coupled with a lot of big-ticket Hindi releases," Mr Sood said.
The company hiked prices by around 5 per cent during the year and going forward price revisions will be inflation-linked as has been the case in the past, PVR said.
PVR had plans to add 21 screens during the quarter, taking up the total count to 483 screens- which the company is on track to achieve, it said.
The multplex chain which has significant presence in the northern and western markets of the country said while it plans to expand across geographies, the South Indian market in particular poses great opportunities.
"The focus will be to add more cinemas in every market, we are agnostic to any specific geography. We believe South India is also a great opportunity, simply because there is not enough penetration of multiplexes and the sector is still opening up in that market, so we'll continue to focus on all parts of the country wherever there is a great opportunity to set up a great multiplex," PVR said.
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