Reliance Entertainment will release Steven Spielberg’s awards season contender “The Fabelmans” on Feb. 10 across India.
The India release is significant because, even though U.S. movies have grown their market share to around 11% of the box office, the vast majority of it is dominated by Hollywood franchises, superhero films or creature features, which are dubbed into several local languages. Prestige dramas, such as “The Fabelmans,” when they do get released, are only shown in their original English versions.
A deeply personal portrait of a 20th century American childhood, “The Fabelmans” is a cinematic memory of the forces and family that shaped the filmmaker’s life and career. The film recently won best director and best picture – drama at the recently held 80th Golden Globe Awards.
Accepting the award, Spielberg said: “I put a lot of things in my way of this story. I told this story in parts and parcels all through my career,” Spielberg said, referencing “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Munich” and “West Side Story.” “And my wife Kate [Capshaw] was always saying, ‘You have to tell this.’ During COVID, I didn’t know if any of us were going to have the chance to tell any of our stories again.”
Reliance Entertainment has partnered since 2009 with Spielberg in the formation of DreamWorks Studios, and thereafter, in the Amblin entities. “The Fabelmans” is produced by Amblin Entertainment, Amblin Partners, Reliance Entertainment and Universal Pictures. Reliance Entertainment has made it a point to theatrically release most of the films made in partnership with Amblin.
Dhruv Sinha, head, international businesses, Reliance Entertainment, told Variety: “We are extremely proud of our long-lasting and fruitful partnership with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment. This association has borne fruit with films like ‘The Help,’ ‘War Horse,’ ‘Lincoln,’ ‘Bridge of Spies,’ ‘The Post,’ ‘Green Book’ and ‘1917’ winning accolades at Oscar- and Golden Globe among others. We have brought to cinemas in India these creative masterpieces and now, on the same scale, we bring ‘The Fabelmans’ to audiences on Feb. 10.”