Some of the films that hit the theaters without heavy pre-release promotion have been big hits before. But often films without leading stars bring people to the theaters by getting such positive word-of-mouth publicity. But it doesn’t happen in a single day but takes at least two weeks. Different from that is the Jude Anthany Joseph film 2018 which has created a huge discussion among movie lovers in a single day.Never before has a film with a multi-star cast like Tovino, Asif Ali, Kunchacko Boban, Vineeth Srinivasan and Lal , Naran been released in Malayalam with so little promotion. Jude himself once informed about the lack of promotion through social media. But after watching the film, the audience’s evaluations say that the decision not to give a big pre-release promotion to the film may be a decision taken by the makers due to their faith in the content. Although it had a good screen count, the 2018 show started on Friday morning on small screens in many centers. But after the initial shows, the film got huge positive publicity on social media and the film was shifted from small screens to big screens all over Kerala.
For example, the film was released in the morning on a relatively small screen at Aries Plex, the main theater in Thiruvananthapuram. But by the time of the first show, the film was shifted to their Audi 1, one of the largest seating capacities in Kerala. If there is, the audience will be in the first row of seats. This is not just a Thiruvananthapuram story, it happened on screens all over Kerala. Many centers have charted midnight special shows as the second show tickets have also been in huge demand. They were also very crowded. Many theaters have charted special midnight shows till Saturday due to crowding.
Unofficial reports say that the film earned 1.85 crores from Kerala alone on the first day. The film is sure to get bigger collections on Saturday and Sunday than on the first day. With this, trade analysts are estimating that the film will do wonders at the weekend box office. 2018 will also have the biggest first-weekend collection for a Malayalam film this year. Theater owners and the film world are elated that the theaters are back on track after a long hiatus.
