PVR, RRR & Indian box office; US releases in China; Oscars mayhem; SEAFIC calls it a day

India may have scored its first huge post-pandemic hit, but the country’s box office has not yet fully recovered and China is still struggling with Covid-induced cinema closures. Meanwhile, the entire planet was obsessing over a slap…

1. PVR, RRR AND THE RECOVERY OF INDIA’S BOX OFFICE

The big news that broke early this week is that two of India’s biggest cinema chains, PVR Cinemas and Inox Leisure, are merging to form a mega-circuit of 1,546 screens. Indian press had earlier reported that PVR was in advanced merger talks with the Indian arm of Mexico’s Cinepolis, but in the end, two family-owned businesses partnered up to face the dual scourge of Covid-induced cinema hesitancy and the rise of streaming.

Ironically, the merger was announced on the same weekend that an Indian film, S.S. Rajamouli’s Telugu-language RRR, had a record-breaking theatrical opening both in India and overseas. Although Indian box office figures are difficult to verify, it’s looking like the film grossed around $6…