Tollywood To Turn ‘Rebelwood’ In 2026?

Reigning pan-India star Prabhas slightly disappointed his fans in 2025 without having any major releases except for his cameo in Kannappa and the return of his blockbuster Baahubali franchise to theatres labelled as Baahubali: The Epic. But, 2026 will see him coming back to storm the Tollywood box office with back-to-back releases. 

With his upcoming horror comedy drama The Raja Saab set to kick off an ambitious season for Tollywood, there is a strong chance for Prabhas to turn 2026 into a big year for entire industry by having more than one release as upcoming films like Fauzi and Spirit very much in contention to hit the screens in 2026.

Hanu Raghavapudi’s war drama Fauzi, which generated significant buzz with the first look poster, has already completed adequate portions of shoot. If Prabhas manages to allot dates in the coming months, there are strong chances for the film to hit the screens in August. He plays a soldier in this film which is set in pre-Independence era.

Meanwhile, Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s cop drama Spirit has also started rolling. Prabhas took part in shoot briefly.. He will take a short break before returning to the sets to complete his portions in quick time. Prabhas has reportedly agreed to dedicate 45-50 days for his part. 

As Sandeep Reddy has a knack for wrapping up his films at a brisk pace, there are good chances for Spirit to arrive in theatres during December season, which has become the most preferred release window for action films after blockbusters like Animal, Pushpa and Dhurandhar. 

Even if Fauzi does make it to screens as expected in August due to pending production formalities and other shooting issues, Spirit will surely eye December release given that Sandeep Reddy will not waste much time once the shoot commences at full flow.

However, there are reports that Fauzi might be postponed from mid-August to October due to production delays. If that happens, Spirit could either be preponed or pushed further, depending on how the schedules fall in place.

Although Sandeep Reddy is known for completing shoots at a brisk pace, the film’s post-production could still take considerable time. It will be interesting to see how the release plans of these two films are adjusted without any friction.

If both Fauzi and Spirit hit the screens in 2026, it will be a triple treat for Prabhas’ fans. Even if either of them manages to execute their release plans perfectly, there is no doubt that the box office will witness a massive storm as there are mammoth expections on both films and also because there is huge potential in their stories and genres to resonate across wider audiences.