In what may come as a disappointment to the fans of Malayalam superstar Mammootty, his most-awaited film The Priest won’t release in theatres this week. Debutant director Jofin T. Chacko on Monday evening announced the same on his Facebook page without a new release date.

“Firstly, I would like to thank Mammukka for making my dream come true. I have adored him as a fan since my childhood and he inspired me to get into movies. I never thought that I would be directing him in my first film. I feel so lucky,” Jofin wrote on his Facebook page, adding that he has completed the final cut of The Priest. “We had completed about 80 per cent of the shooting when our production was stalled due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. And we resumed shooting after a gap of eight months and completed it,” he added.

However, he also noted that The Priest will not be opening in theatres on March 4, as announced earlier, citing the situation was not conducive to release such a big-budget film from a business standpoint. “We always planned to release The Priest worldwide on the same day. This film should be experienced on the big screen by everyone. But, theatres are not functioning in many parts of the world, including Dubai, Saudi, Oman,” Jofin said.

Jofin also pointed out that the Kerala government has not permitted to run second shows yet. And it would result in a loss for the filmmakers as they would lose a lot of family audience, who prefer second shows in Kerala.

Earlier, it was believed that, the government will allow night nights from March 1. While the neighbouring states have already allowed the theatres to function in full swing with 100 per cent occupancy, the 50 per cent cap on ticket sales is still in force in Kerala.

According to reports, a significant number of theatres that reopened after nine months to show Vijay’s Master have now been closed due to the sharp decline in domestic box office collections and footfalls. The members of the film fraternity have reached out to the Kerala government seeking permission to run second shows. Until a favourable decision is taken, the producers of big-budget films will remain reluctant to release their films theatrically.

It is worth noting that the release of Mohanlal’s magnum opus Marakkar Arabikadalinte Simham was postponed to April 13 recently. The film was supposed to release on March 26. Now it will release along with Fahadh Faasil’s Malik and Nivin Pauly’s Thuramukham.