Why East Exhibitors Threaten To Shut Down Theatres?

For a long time, the Telugu film trade has been struggling due to a lack of public patronage for movies with poor content. The rising ticket prices and other costs are only adding to the woes. Trade circles are pinning high hopes on Tollywood filmmakers to deliver content-rich movies that will attract audiences to theaters in huge numbers.

Amidst this crisis, the exhibitors from the East Godavari region have taken a shocking decision. The East exhibitors have issued an ultimatum to shut down their theaters from June 1, 2025, after their recent discussions with the East Godavari distributors ended in a stalemate.

Apparently, citing the lack of decent theatrical revenues, the exhibitors made their age-old demand of implementing the percentage system instead of the existing rental system that allegedly benefits the distributors. However, the distributors’ body is said to have turned down the exhibitors’ demand, forcing the latter to announce a shutdown of theaters across the East Godavari region until their demands are met with a satisfactory solution.

Usually, big-budget films featuring stars are distributed on a rental basis at single-screen theaters, while small- and medium-budget films are exhibited on a percentage-based revenue-sharing system. In the neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka, theaters are running on the percentage model and not on the rental system.

With several high-budget movies lined up for release during the summer season and the second half of this year, Tollywood bigwigs are expected to intervene to resolve the stalemate between the East exhibitors and distributors.