With John Wick 4's Rise, All Lionsgate India Needs Is A Good PR Team —

Lionsgate India's latest Hollywood release, John Wick: Chapter 4, has taken a good start at the box office. With collections of 8.50 crore nett (including paid preview), the 4th Chapter has surpassed all previous films of the franchise in India on day 1 itself. Indeed, it's a new era for the John Wick franchise. Lionsgate is late to join the party, but it's there, and that's all that matters.

Marvel Studios is by far the biggest Hollywood brand in India, and they also have the finest PR team (Universal PR). The rise of Marvel in the last 12-13 years has been amazing and their films are highly popular amongst audiences. Even in the media, awareness is at its highest due to the good work and reach of their PR. 20th Century Fox and Lightstorm were smart enough to shift Avatar: The Way of Water's media PR from Moés Arts to Universal, and the results are clearly visible.

Many Hollywood studios are not that popular in India due to poor marketing and PR teams. Marvel, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., and Disney's movies release with awareness because of their marketing and PR teams. But a banner like Lionsgate is still struggling for popularity. As you can see, all their previous releases haven't been able to get audiences or even media hype for a while. With John Wick 4 too, the media hype and awareness are lower than any of DC or Marvel's flop films. However, the picture is changing (I hope) and should change for their own good.

From my personal experience in the media field, I can easily say that Lionsgate has got one of the worst PRs in the industry. Be it their Hollywood releases, media screenings, OTT originals, screeners, or other media events, the capacity and reach are too low to be considered a known brand. The box office numbers and viewership are always too low. I have spoken to their PR executives, and the experience was terrible, while other Hollywood banners' PRs have been immensely cooperative. I hope they bring a change in their mindset soon. It will be great for everybody, won't it?

PS: This article is strictly the author's opinion.