The Malayalam film industry has been in a major crisis since the Film Exhibitors Union of Kerala, or FEUOK, announced a protest against new releases last week. As previously reported, FEUOK decided not to allow new Malayalam films to be released in theaters after February 23, 2024, after the Producers and Distributors Associations failed to reach a reasonable decision on Malayalam films' OTT windows.

However, recent updates indicate that FEUOK has finally ended its protest and decided to lift the ban on new Malayalam releases. The union made this major decision following a meeting attended by its Vice Chairman, actor Dileep. According to recent updates, all of the union's concerns were addressed during today's meeting.

FEUOK to start releasing Malayalam films?

According to The South First, the Film Exhibitors Union of Kerala has decided to begin screening all new films, including upcoming Malayalam movies, on Friday, March 1, 2024. Following a thorough discussion with Vice Chairman Dileep, the union members arrived at this conclusion. However, the conflict between FEUOK and the Kerala Film Producers' Association has not been resolved.

According to recent reports from The Hindu, the Film Exhibitors Union of Kerala and the Kerala Film Producers' Association are expected to hold additional discussions on the content mastering unit issue and the OTT window duration in the coming days after failing to conclude their recent meeting. According to reports, if the unions do not reach an agreement soon, the Kerala Film Chamber will step in.

More about FUEOK

For the uninitiated, FEUOK has stated that producers and distributors should be allowed to specify preferred projection systems in theaters. They also proposed a condition that films be released on OTT only 42 days after their theatrical release. If the unions reach an agreement by March 1, 2024, several highly anticipated Malayalam films, including Marivillin Gopurangal, Once Upon A Time In Kochi, and Dileep's Thankamani, will be released in March.