Varanasi’s IMAX Version Struck Between Two Films?

Legendary director SS Rajamouli’s latest outing, Varanasi, featuring Mahesh Babu, Prithviraj Sukumaran and Priyanka Chopra in the leads, is coming out on April 7, 2027. The dashing director is currently making the movie at jet speed to meet the release deadline, which is unusual for him, as he has changed the release date multiple times. However, folks who want to watch Varanasi in IMAX format in the USA are now worried that the film might not get enough screens there. Here’s why.

Though Rajamouli’s Varanasi is not being shot with the true IMAX Cameras like Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, he’s shooting the film on full-gate, enabling the final version to be screened on the large IMAX screens. Already, they have made agreements for the same. However, on March 26th, the sequel to the superhit Godzilla x Kong (2024 release), the all-new “Godzilla x Kong: Supernova” is hitting cinemas. That means a week before Varanasi, almost all the major IMAX Screens in North America and European markets will be grabbed by them.

At the same time, the latest movie of senior superstar Julia Roberts, “Panic Carefully”, directed by Mr Robot and The Silence of the Lambs fame Sam Esmail, has been moved to April 9th from February 26, 2027, thus coming up as a competition for Varanasi when it comes to grabbing IMAX screens.

Experts say that no matter how many screens Godzilla and Panic Carefully grab, the screens allotted to Varanasi will remain the same, and agreements have already been made to that extent. Also, Varanasi will run on normal screens too, thus the IMAX experience may be missed out, but not the whole vibe and the box office numbers.