S.S. Rajamouli has been making Telugu films in India for the past 25 years. However, a few years ago, he became a global name when RRR captured audiences who saw the movie in theaters or with a Netflix subscription, where it became one of the platform's most-watched non-English films. If you were entranced by Oscar-winning original song "Naatu Naatu", its visual feast and story of friendship and revolution, we have some good news for you.
It's just been announced that the filmmaker's next film, Varanasi, is officially set to hit theaters globally on April 7, 2027, and it's coming to IMAX! That's only a year and three months away, folks! Check out the official poster below:
Varanasi stars Telugu star Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Malayalam/Tamil film star Prithviraj Sukumaran. The plot details of Varanasi are very much being kept under wraps at this time, but we do know that the movie will span over various time periods, and the title refers to a city on the Ganges River in northern India that serves as a religious and spiritual center.
It will be a globetrotting adventure film (with music numbers, of course) and Rajamouli has also suggested it's both inspired by the Indiana Jones movies and important stories of historic and popular significance to Indian culture.
CinemaBlend was invited to Hyderabad, India, back in November to see S.S. Rajamouli unveil the first look at Varanasi in front of over 40,000 fans and people live-streaming the event around the world. At the huge event, the filmmaker showed off the movie's first images on a huge 100 by 132-foot screen. The movie was filmed for IMAX, and the event allowed Rajamouli to show off some landscapes in the 1.43:1 ratio.
You can check out the trailer for Varanasi unveiled that day below:
Currently, Varanasi's release date is perfectly carved out because there aren't many other big Hollywood movies in competition with it – but of course, studios are adding films to next year all the time. For the time being, Godzilla x Kong: Supernova and Mel Gibson's biblical drama The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One are set for March 28, and April's pretty wide open aside from an action thriller called F.A.S.T.
Since Varanasi is reportedly one of the most expensive movies to come from Indian cinema, we expect and hope to see this massive RRR follow-up make a killing commercially, along with hopefully introducing more global audiences to the power of Rajamouli's visionary mind and Telugu cinema.
Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more updates on Varanasi coming up soon! And, while you wait, check out what's coming up on the 2026 movie schedule.
