Warner Bros. Joins Disney, Sony and Viacom in Race to Make Movies in India

Implications: 1. Warner Bros, Disney, News Corp and Sony have been working for years in the Indian TV sector.     

2. Hollywood movies only account for 8% of the Indian Box Office.

Analysis: Hollywood movies flourish internationally, however only account for 8% of the Indian box office. India box office revenues are growing as more multiplexes are being built and the Hollywood studios are set to increase their share through being part of the Bollywood production game. Warner Bros, Disney, News Corp and Sony have been working for years in the Indian TV sector and are leveraging their experience and presence.

Typical high value movies are made in India for production costs between $700 K and $1 million. $4 million to $6 million budgeted movies are considered pricey and the most expensive movie ever was “Devdas” which was produced for a record $11 million.

Viacom in May created a joint venture with Network-18 Group which focuses primarily on TV ventures plus the Indian Film Co… a new studio which just raised $112 M on the London Stock Exchange. The Indian Film Company, which Viacom has and equal stake to the Network-18 Group, has 22 Movies on the slate with start dates over the next 18 months.

Disney has partnered with Yash Raj Films with plans to make one $4 million to $10 million budgeted CGI animation film each year.

Sony Pictures is investing is “Saawariya” which is being directed by “Devdas” Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Hollywood movies have had a very strong year as “Pirates of the Caribbean", "Harry Potter" and "Spiderman" performed very well at the box office…This success however has highlighted the small share of the Indian movie box office the Hollywood Studios actually enjoy.