The 2026 box office is still reeling from the shockwaves of the March "Mega" shuffle, but the industry's long term forecast has suddenly taken a dramatic turn - it looks like it's all set for a once in a generation showdown: a four way battle between the "Senior Four" at Sankranti in 2027. The fire was officially lit just the other day by Annapurna Studios, who've locked down January 15th 2027 for Nagarjuna's sequel to Soggade Chinni Nayana. And in doing so, they've basically snapped up the festive window in rural India a whole year in advance.
For distributors, this is really just the beginning of their nightmare. Victory Venkatesh is still basking in the glory of Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu, and as we understand it, he's already in pre-production with Anil Ravipudi on a new film that's being tipped as the season's sure fire family winner. But things are about to get really complicated - we've got Chiranjeevi and Nandamuri Balakrishna about to throw their respective hats into the ring. Chiranjeevi is teaming up with Bobby Kolli again for an all out mass entertainer - a film that looks unlikely to leave anyone feeling disappointed. And Balakrishna's meanwhile working with Gopichand Malineni again - a combination that really tore it up last Sankranti with Veera Simha Reddy.
For theater owners, though, the thought of it all is both a worrying nightmare and a lucrative potential dream. To be honest, the Telugu market hasn't seen a showdown of this magnitude since the good old pre-pandemic days, and the battle for screen time in Nizam and Vizag is likely to get pretty crazy. And then there are the ongoing whispers about Prabhas possibly being behind Spirit, or Sharwanand looking to quietly sneak a film onto the market - it's starting to look like 2027's going to be less of a festive season and more of a once in a lifetime fight for box office supremacy. By 2027 the box office won't just be about how much money gets made; it'll be a battle to see whose star still holds the keys to the kingdom.