Phars Film, the Dubai-based distributor, will release Shah Rukh Khan’s King outside India, and it is reported to have paid a minimum guarantee of ₹175 crore ($18.4m) for the rights. Red Chillies Entertainment, the film’s producer, confirmed Phars as its overseas distributor on 31 October, according to the Press Trust of India, a day after the Indian entertainment site Pinkvilla reported the deal and its price, citing sources close to Phars. Neither company has disclosed the amount. Pinkvilla called it a record: by its account, no Indian film had previously drawn an overseas guarantee of even ₹100 crore. The dollar figure uses the ECB reference rates for 30 October.
Key facts
- Deal: overseas distribution rights to King, reportedly for a ₹175 crore ($18.4m) minimum guarantee
- Buyer: Phars Film (Dubai), replacing Yash Raj Films as international distributor
- Structure: Phars to release directly in the Middle East and sell other territories to local distributors, according to the report
- Release: 24 December 2026, directed by Siddharth Anand; produced by Red Chillies Entertainment and Marflix Pictures
- Benchmark: Pathaan and Jawan each grossed an estimated $49m outside India in 2023, according to the tracker Sacnilk
What the companies say
Venky Mysore, chief executive of Red Chillies, said Phars’s “extensive international reach and market expertise will significantly strengthen the film’s global prospects”. Phars chairman Ahmad Golchin called Khan a “global icon” and described the agreement as “a major achievement” for the company. Neither statement, as reported by PTI, mentioned the guarantee.
From commission to guarantee
The change matters as much for its structure as for its size. Yash Raj Films, which had been lined up to handle King abroad, released Jawan and Dunki internationally on commission, according to Pinkvilla: the distributor takes a fee from takings but puts up no money in advance. That has become the usual arrangement for Hindi films overseas. A minimum guarantee works the other way round. The distributor pays the producers up front and carries the risk if the film underperforms, which is why the report frames the deal as reducing the exposure on one of the most expensive Hindi productions to date.
Phars plans to work the film the way it usually does, according to the report: releasing it itself across the Middle East, where it is based, and selling the remaining territories to local distributors. It has reportedly already had a strong offer from Germany. Several territory partners may stay the same as under Yash Raj, with the biggest changes in the markets where Yash Raj has distributed through its own offices, which Pinkvilla lists as North America, the UK and the Middle East. Phars has handled a large Indian release before: it took the overseas rights to Prabhas’s Saaho in 2019, running the Middle East itself while working with Yash Raj on the wider international release.
What King has to earn
Overseas distributors generally keep about half of the gross, so the Hindustan Times estimates that King would need $37m to $40m abroad, or about ₹350 crore to ₹375 crore, simply to recover the guarantee. Pinkvilla puts the target nearer $48m, and up to $50m once Phars’s territory resales are taken into account. Either way, the film would need to perform at the level of Pathaan and Jawan, Khan’s two biggest hits.
The calendar will not make that easy. King opens on Christmas Eve, six days after Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three, with Jumanji: Open World also due over the holidays, all competing for premium screens through the new year. PVR INOX already lists King among the titles it is counting on after a record July to September quarter at home.
The film
King reunites Khan with Siddharth Anand, who directed Pathaan. The cast includes Deepika Padukone, Rani Mukerji, Anil Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan, Jaideep Ahlawat, Arshad Warsi and Suhana Khan, and Sachin-Jigar are writing the songs. A new poster released on 27 October showed Khan with a gun in his hand and a rose in his teeth, a fire burning behind him.
Phars’s home region is growing too: Saudi Arabia’s box office rose 9% in 2025, and the Gulf remains one of the most reliable markets outside India for Hindi stars. More deals coverage and stories from India are on their own pages.
Our reading
If the reported figure is right, a regional distributor is betting that Khan can match his 2023 peak abroad in a crowded Christmas window. It also tests the commission model that has become standard for Hindi releases overseas: a producer offered a guarantee this large has a strong reason to take the money and pass the risk on. Whether other producers follow depends on what King does in its first fortnight in North America, the UK and the Gulf.
Sources
- Pinkvilla (exclusive, citing sources close to Phars Films), 30 October 2026
- Sacnilk, 30 October 2026
- Press Trust of India via News18, ‘Shah Rukh Khan’s King to be released globally on December 24 by Phars Film’, 31 October 2026
- Variety India, Sachin-Jigar on King
- Hindustan Times, 31 October 2026
- Red Chillies Entertainment, King film page
- Phars Film, About us
- The Hindu, new King poster, 27 October 2026
- ECB euro reference rates via Frankfurter, 30 October 2026 (INR 106.084, USD 1.1172 per euro)