Shah Rukh Khan is preparing for another major global theatrical event, with KING officially scheduled to arrive in cinemas on 24 December 2026.

The action film reunites Khan with Pathaan director Siddharth Anand and is being produced by Red Chillies Entertainment and Marflix Pictures. Red Chillies describes the project as a new Shah Rukh Khan experience and a high-octane action entertainer designed on a major theatrical scale.

For New Zealand audiences, however, KING is more than another Bollywood release.

The film will arrive at a time when Indian cinema is becoming increasingly important to cinemas outside India, while premium large-format screens are becoming a bigger part of the battle to persuade audiences to leave streaming services and return to theatres.

And New Zealand, although a relatively small market, has repeatedly demonstrated that it can deliver impressive numbers for major Indian releases.

KING is being built as a global theatrical event

The official Red Chillies Entertainment page currently confirms Shah Rukh Khan as the lead, Siddharth Anand as director and 24 December 2026 as the release date.

Industry reports have linked a much larger ensemble to the project, including Suhana Khan, Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, Anil Kapoor and others. Some reports have also placed the production budget around ₹400 crore, although figures of this nature should be treated as industry estimates rather than audited production accounts.

Commercially, one of the most important developments is happening outside India.

Yash Raj Films will handle the international theatrical distribution of KING, continuing its relationship with Red Chillies after working internationally on Shah Rukh Khan films including Jawan and Dunki.

That matters because the overseas market is no longer a bonus for major Indian films. For the biggest releases, it has become a central part of the revenue strategy.

Why overseas revenue matters so much

In 2023, one of Bollywood’s strongest recent years, the industry generated about US$1.5 billion in box-office revenue, with roughly US$350 million coming from international markets. That means overseas cinemas represented almost one quarter of the overall theatrical business.

Shah Rukh Khan has been particularly successful at converting his global fan base into ticket sales.

Pathaan and Jawan became enormous international successes in 2023, helping establish the argument that a top Indian film should now be planned as an international release from the beginning rather than exported after domestic success is established.

That explains why bringing Yash Raj Films into KING’s international distribution network is commercially significant.

North America, the United Kingdom, Gulf countries, Australia, New Zealand and other diaspora-heavy markets can collectively add hundreds of crores to a successful film.

For KING, overseas performance could therefore influence whether the film is simply a domestic blockbuster or becomes a genuinely global Indian cinema event.

New Zealand may be small, but it punches above its weight

New Zealand will obviously never contribute the same raw box-office numbers as the United States, Britain or Australia.

But looking only at population size misses the point.

New Zealand has a large and increasingly diverse South Asian population, strong cinema-going communities and audiences for Hindi, Punjabi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films.

Indian cinema has consequently moved well beyond occasional specialist screenings.

Shah Rukh Khan has already demonstrated this.

Box Office Mojo records Pathaan earning approximately US$848,000 from New Zealand cinemas, with an opening of about US$385,000.

Later that year, Jawan did something arguably even more significant. It reached number one at the New Zealand weekend box office, taking NZ$473,918 over its leading weekend.

That is important context for KING.

A Bollywood film topping the overall New Zealand weekend chart means it is not merely succeeding within an Indian diaspora niche. It is competing for screens, sessions and audience attention against Hollywood releases.

The phenomenon is also broader than Bollywood. Malayalam films have become increasingly competitive in New Zealand, with industry observers linking their growth partly to migration and changing audience demographics.

For distributors, that makes New Zealand a small but commercially valuable territory that should not be treated as an afterthought.

The 70mm question needs some clarification

There is already considerable discussion online around KING being a massive “big-screen” experience.

But one distinction matters.

As of August 2026, Red Chillies Entertainment has not officially announced that KING is being shot on 70mm film, presented in IMAX 70mm or even specifically released in IMAX.

Its official KING page confirms the film, director and release date, but does not list 70mm or IMAX specifications.

That does not make the premium-format conversation irrelevant.

Quite the opposite.

The extraordinary performance of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has shown cinemas just how valuable premium formats can become. IMAX reported that only 41 IMAX 70mm locations had generated US$27.6 million, representing around 12 percent of the film’s total IMAX box office at that stage.

The lesson is commercial rather than nostalgic.

Audiences will pay more when a film gives them a reason to believe the cinema experience cannot be replicated on a television.

70mm film offers a very large image area, exceptional detail and a distinctive film presentation. IMAX 70mm goes further again with a huge frame and specialised projection.

But physical 70mm should not be confused with ordinary digital IMAX or other premium large-format screens.

For KING, the critical question is therefore not necessarily whether a 70mm print exists. It is whether Siddharth Anand and Red Chillies can produce a spectacle strong enough for audiences to actively choose the biggest and most expensive screen available.

New Zealand’s premium-screen market is changing too

That question is particularly relevant here.

In August, Hoyts confirmed plans to introduce IMAX with Laser cinemas in New Zealand within the next 12 months, as cinema operators respond to growing demand for premium theatrical experiences.

New Zealand box-office results are already demonstrating the power of event cinema.

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey opened locally with more than NZ$2 million from 121 screens, becoming the biggest New Zealand opening weekend of 2026 at that point.

That tells distributors something important.

People have not stopped going to cinemas. They have become more selective about what deserves a cinema visit.

KING is precisely the kind of star-driven action film that will attempt to benefit from that change.

Christmas 2026 also brings a serious fight for screens

There is another complication.

KING will enter an extremely competitive Christmas period.

Major Hollywood releases are also positioned around December 2026, meaning cinemas in markets such as New Zealand and Australia could face intense competition for premium screens and prime evening sessions. Industry reporting has already highlighted the crowded international release corridor.

This makes international distribution strategy particularly important.

A film can have enormous fan demand but still lose potential revenue if it cannot secure enough screens, premium auditoriums or convenient session times.

Yash Raj Films’ international distribution network could therefore become one of KING’s less glamorous but most important commercial advantages.

More than a father-daughter story

Much of the early public conversation around KING has naturally centred on Shah Rukh Khan appearing in a project widely reported to feature his daughter Suhana Khan.

But commercially, the bigger story may be what KING represents.

It is a test of whether Indian cinema can continue expanding from a huge domestic film industry into a truly global theatrical business.

It is also another test of Shah Rukh Khan’s unusual international drawing power.

And for markets such as New Zealand, it could provide further evidence that Indian cinema has become a permanent and commercially important part of the mainstream theatrical calendar.

The biggest unknown is still the film itself.

A huge budget, global distribution and superstar cast can secure an opening weekend. They cannot guarantee long-term success.

Audiences still have to like the movie.

But if Siddharth Anand can deliver the scale promised by the early campaign, KING could become one of the most closely watched international box-office stories of Christmas 2026.

And when the numbers begin arriving on 24 December, New Zealand will be a small line on the worldwide spreadsheet.

It may also be a surprisingly important one.

References

Red Chillies Entertainment
Yash Raj Films international distribution announcement
Box Office Mojo
New Zealand weekend box-office data
ShowNews New Zealand
1News New Zealand
IMAX Corporation
Variety
Times of India

Webfit News follows principles of accuracy, context and responsible reporting. Production budgets, unconfirmed cast information and exhibition-format claims should be treated as reported information until formally confirmed by the filmmakers.