Why Avatar 2 may not surface in Kerala

While the world awaits the release of the second part of the blockbuster movie Avatar: The Way of Water, the state of Kerala might have to wait a little longer. On Tuesday, the Film Exhibitors United Organisation of Kerala (FEUOK) announced that declared that it will not authorise the release of Avatar’s sequel movie. The announcement came after the organisation could not reach an agreement with the makers of the film over profit-sharing terms.

Let’s take a closer look at the dispute. What’s the disagreement about? It’s a deal gone wrong. The president of FEUOK, K Vijayakumar said in a press conference that producers of the James Cameron directorial movie are demanding 60 per cent of the total revenue the film makes in the state. He added that the organisation’s norm of revenue share is 50 per cent and that they are not willing to share a penny more. For the film’s prequel which was released in 2009, the revenue share was 50 per cent but this time FEUOK was willing to shell out an extra five per cent. Since the negotiations have reached a dead end, FEUOK will not screen the movie in 400 theatres in Kerala that operates under its umbrella. “It is not being banned here. We cannot accept their terms and conditions. They are demanding unusual pay from single-screen theatres in Kerala. That we cannot accept. We are not going to ban any films. But, we are not going to release Avatar 2 in Kerala. We are expecting negotiations from their side,” said Vijayakumar. Authorities are also not too happy about a condition laid out by the producers to run Avatar 2 for three weeks in theatres. As of now, Hollywood filmmakers haven’t reacted to FEUOK’s decision yet. K Vijayakumar further said, according to Indian Express, “When it comes to films of other languages, there are some regulations in place in Kerala. Regardless of how big a film is, if it is not respecting our practices, we won’t screen it in Kerala. The theatres are not ready to screen ‘Avatar 2’, which is in violation of our terms.” The film, which is slated to release on 16 December, has created a lot of buzz among the audience with 15,000 premium format tickets already being sold as on 25 November. The film can be viewed in six Indian languages – English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. About FEUOK According to a 2017 report by The News Minute, the Film Exhibitors United Organisation of Kerala was formed by Malayali actor Dileep. The association came into being after 64 theatre owners broke away from a tussle that ensued between Kerala Film Exhibitors Federation (KFEF) and Kerala Film Producers’ Association (KFPA). The federation was also created with a 23-member Core Committee. With the launch of this organisation, 350 A-class theatres in the state were shut down which severely hit the Malayalam film industry. Kerala Film Exhibitors Federation to the rescue Even though Avatar 2 won’t be screened by FEOUK, the Kerala Film Exhibitors Federation confirmed that it will run the movie in theatres that fall under its ambit. The news was confirmed by KFEF’s President Liberty Basheer. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.