Film Production
Barco & Fox ink deal to release films in panoramic movie format
MUMBAI: Digital cinema company Barco and 20th Century Fox have inked a five year, multi-title per year agreement to release movies in Barco’s multi-screen, fully immersive movie format Barco Escape.
Fox will be working with its filmmakers to produce new projects for the format beginning with the September release of Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials.
As part of the deal, a Barco Escape setup will be installed in a theater on the 20th Century Fox studio lot.
Fox was an early endorser of the Barco Escape technology, working hand in hand with Barco throughout the last year to further develop the format and showcase new theatrical content to audiences. Director Wes Ball’s The Maze Runner was the first film to release in Barco Escape, featuring approximately 10 minutes of footage in the format. It debuted at five Barco Escape Cinemark theaters in the US and two Barco Escape Kinepolis theaters in Belgium. For The Scorch Trials,Barco is targeting 25 locations, and Fox is targeting approximately 20 minutes of the film to be converted into the format.
“The audience reaction from the Barco Escape footage on The Maze Runner was overwhelmingly positive. We started working with Barco on this technology because we believe immersive experiences are the future of cinema. Now that Barco has upgraded its Barco Escape systems to be fully DCI compliant, we are further interested in finding tent pole movies for the format that will inspire audiences to leave their homes and go to the theater to share in this unique experience,” says 20th Century Fox president of domestic distribution Chris Aronson.
“Twentieth Century Fox has been an incredible partner for Barco Escape from the very beginning. The common theme from audiences that saw The Maze Runner with select scenes in Barco Escape was ‘we want more!’ We are thrilled to extend our relationship with the studio and its filmmakers to continue pushing the envelope and creating these new cinema experiences you can’t get anywhere else,” added Barco VP of global entertainment Todd Hoddick.
Barco Escape’s next project, a special performance event with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga filmed natively for the format, will be released later this year.
Film Production
Arka Mediaworks onboards 88 Pictures as animation studio partner on ‘The Eternal War – Part 1’
Arka Mediaworks announces that 88 Pictures, the acclaimed animation and visual storytelling studio known for its cutting-edge CGI and cinematic artistry, is on board as the animation partner for the highly anticipated Baahubali: The Eternal War, a groundbreaking two-part 3D animated feature film set in the globally beloved Baahubali universe.
Baahubali: The Eternal War represents a bold new chapter in the Baahubali saga envisioned for national and international audiences and crafted with the ambition of delivering one of India’s most ambitious and globally benchmarked animation projects to date.
88 Pictures will execute the animation production, bringing to life the film’s richly detailed worlds, epic battle sequences, and larger-than-life characters with its signature blend of artistic vision, performance-driven animation, and advanced production pipelines. Working closely with the film’s creative leadership and technical partners, the studio aims to set new benchmarks in animation quality, cinematic storytelling, and global scalability.
This animated epic follows the successful re-release of Baahubali: The Epic (the combined theatrical version of the original live-action films) on 31 October 2025 across India and the USA. During the film’s interval, legendary creator and director S.S. Rajamouli (Baahubali 1 & 2, RRR) stunned audiences with a surprise teaser for The Eternal War – Part 1. The video immediately went viral, garnering widespread national and international acclaim across LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube for its ambitious visual style and scale.
Produced by Arka Mediaworks and led by co-founder and CEO Shobu Yarlagadda – producer of the iconic Baahubali duology, The Eternal War brings together fantastic storytelling and cutting-edge animation.. The film is directed and written by acclaimed animation filmmaker Ishan Shukla (Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust, Star Wars: Visions – “The Bandits of Golak”) and screenplay by Scott Mosier (The Grinch). Mihira Visual Labs, the studio co-founded by Yarlagadda anchors the film’s animation, visual development, and execution.
The partnership with 88 Pictures brings significant pedigree to the project; the studio is well-regarded for its work on high-profile international titles including DreamWorks’ series Trollhunters, the HBO Max original series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, Disney’s animated short An Almost Christmas Story to name a few.
Yarlagadda shared, “We are happy to onboard 88 Pictures as the animation studio partner for our prestigious and most expensive animated film from India. We believe that their expertise and capabilities will allow us to produce a first-of-its-kind, world-class animated feature film from India.”
88 Pictures founder & CEO Milind D. Shinde said, “Baahubali changed the way cinema is perceived and became a defining milestone that turned the tide for Indian live-action filmmaking. Expanding the franchise into an entirely new universe—at a never-seen, never-done scale—through an animated feature created in India for a global audience is set to redefine how the world views Indian animation. We are truly thrilled to be part of this landmark project and to bring it to life under the visionary direction of Ishan Shukla, guided by the experience and leadership of acclaimed producer Shobu Yarlagadda.”
Shukla expressed, “Eternal War requires a level of visual and emotional precision that can only come from teams who truly understand both craft and intent. Working with 88 Pictures, alongside Mihira Visual Labs, has been a deeply collaborative experience. This association brings together technical excellence and creative sensitivity, enabling us to translate an ambitious vision into a compelling cinematic reality.”
Baahubali: The Eternal War – Part 1 is scheduled for release in 2027
