MUMBAI: India will not witness the simultaneous worldwide release of Pirates of the Caribean: At World’s End. The film was earlier slated for release on 25 June in India, along with its worldwide release. But Sony Pictures Releasing of India (SPRI) has now come to a decision to release the film on 1 June in India.

Sony Pictures Releasing of India managing director Uday Singh says, “Shivaji was earlier slated for release on 25 May, which would have eaten into Pirates‘ Chennai collections.” Ironically, the release date of Shivaji too has been postponed to 15 June.

Buena Vista International India head of marketing Divya Pathak adds, “Unlike a film like Spider-Man, Pirates does not have its own franchise. So we plan to leverage the buzz of its US release in India to create additional hype around the film.” The last film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest is the third best movie in the Top 10 list, worldwide.

While the marketing material from Disney is still flowing in, a trade show was organized in Delhi today (19 May), where few snapshots of the film have been showcased. Sony Pictures is aiming at releasing the film with close to 400 prints in India.

While Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl released in India three weeks after its US release, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest released two weeks after its US release. Now Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End will release a week later, along with Shrek 3.