Leo releasing tomorrow i.e. October 19 [Thursday] is actor Vijay's second release of 2023. The movie written and directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj is an official adaptation of the graphic novel A History of Violence (1997) written by John Wagner and illustrated by Vince Locke. Leo, a gangster action thriller is also the third movie of Lokesh's LCU (Lokesh Cinematic Universe) franchise after Kaithi (2019) and Vikram (2022). SWOT analysis of the film follows: 

Strengths

• Actor Vijay's combination with director Lokesh Kanagaraj is the biggest strength of Leo. The lead star-filmmaker duo are at the top of their game right now, and are expected to make a bigger impact than their last outing together - Master (2021).

• LCU is Tamil cinema's first cinematic franchise and it has enjoys good popularity among the youth. A movie with the LCU tag is as much a brand as Vijay these days, and it piques interest as to how the drugs nexus world around which LCU is themed will make a comeback in Leo.

• Leo's ensemble cast includes names like Trisha, Sanjay Dutt, Gautham Menon, Priya Anand, Arjun, Mysskin among others. Multi-starrers always amp up the excitement quotient surrounding a movie and are a treat to watch on the big screen.

• Another top-of-the-game name who is part of Leo is music composer Anirudh. Leo singles released so far have been decently well received.

Weakness

• A lot seems to be riding on the LCU brand and Lokesh Kanagaraj's screenplay, given how most of the plot points of Leo are out. [Same was the case with Vikram (2022) yet the movie went on to do phenomenally well].  

• Leo's runtime is a whole 2 hours and 43 minutes. Director Lokesh's LCU movies have been on a similar ballpark yet a lengthy runtime is always a risk factor for any movie.

• Leo is a Tamil film yet until the 11th hour in Tamil Nadu, the movie was entangled in distributor-exhibitor controversies. This meant that Leo bookings opened only at the last minute in several places in its home state.

Opportunities

• Unlike Varisu which released alongside Thunivu for Pongal this year, Leo is coming out in Tamil Nadu as a solo Dussehra release. 850+ screens along with a government ordered special permission of 5 shows per day for 6 days [October 19, 2023 - October 24, 2023], is a big boost to Leo's upcoming box-office collections.

• Leo is also releasing in dubbed Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada languages. The movie's advance sales domestically has been unprecedented in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, whereas overseas regions like US, UK are also doing exceptionally well in terms of ticket sales. 

Threats

• The opening day word-of-mouth holds precedence over a lot else even for a Vijay movie. However the first show in Tamil Nadu begins only at 9 AM IST, leaving room for review chatter already since Leo premieres elsewhere much earlier between 4 AM IST - 7 AM IST. 

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