After much deliberation, Salman Khan’s Maatrubhumi has locked December 4 as its theatrical release date. The announcement sets the stage for an interesting box-office clash, with films starring Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan arriving in cinemas in the same month. Salman initially planned to release Maatrubhumi on November 20, but “that left too little time for promotions”. “It would have also cut short the box-office run of Ramayana: Rise of a Legend. Salman wanted the film to have a month-long run window,” informs a trade source.

While one hurdle is out of the way, the new release date is expected to throw up distribution challenges. Trade analysts believe screen allocation could become tricky, particularly as Maatrubhumi will now compete with Shraddha Kapoor’s Eetha. Interestingly, Jio distributes both films, making the screen-sharing dynamics more complicated. “It is a tightrope. Eetha has buzz, but Maatrubhumi is a Salman Khan film which will be a massy release,” says trade analyst Taran Adarsh.