Hyderabad: Despite widespread interest, Basil Joseph's Minnal Murali was unable to get a theatre release because of the impact of the Covid epidemic. Film production began in December 2019 with plans for a 2020 theatrical release, however, the Covid epidemic derailed these plans. Though filmmakers tried their best, they had difficulties in getting the film into theatres. This prompted them to take a different route, directly releasing Minnal Murali on Netflix, starring Tovino Thomas in the titular role.
The film was dropped for streaming on December 21, 2021. However, the decision proved to be a success, as the picture received widespread acclaim from both audiences and reviewers. This Malayali superhero story had a global impact, laying the way for the creation of comic books, which are currently in the works. Weekend Blockbusters, the film's production house, established a partnership with Tinkle, Amar Chitra Katha, and Spirit Media in July.
During a recent interview with a news wire, Sophia Paul, the producer of Weekend Blockbusters, opened up on whether Minnal Murali has the potential to expand into a cinematic universe, perhaps as a Minnalverse or a Muraliverse, akin to what Marvel and others have been exploring. "The success of Minnal Murali has opened up opportunities to take it further," she said, adding, "one of them is through comic books."
Minnal Murali's foray into the world of comics through Tinkle, in collaboration with Rana Daggubati's Spirit Media, was revealed at this year's Comic-Con in San Diego. Hinting at a possible expansion of the film into a full fledged series of its own, Paul revealed: "And we do have additional plans for the Minnal Murali world. We will make an announcement about one of these projects soon."
