Ramayana Goes Hollywood: Ranbir Kapoor and Yash’s Epic Gets a World Premiere at LA’s Academy Museum on October 27
Ramayana: Rise of a Legend is about to do something no Indian film has ever done: world-premiere at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. The makers of Nitesh Tiwari’s two-part epic have locked October 27, 2026 for the event, just days before the film opens in theatres worldwide on November 5.
The invite-only screening will be held at the museum’s David Geffen Theater before a full-capacity audience of 945 guests, and the film will be shown in 3D. The guest list is expected to draw Hollywood personalities, international filmmakers, global media and leading members of the Indian film industry — a deliberate attempt to introduce the Indian epic to the world on one of cinema’s most prestigious stages.
The choice of venue is no accident. The film’s music pairs two Oscar-winning composers — Hans Zimmer and A. R. Rahman — working together for the first time, while the visual effects come from DNEG, the eight-time Academy Award-winning studio behind Dune, Interstellar and Inception. With Diwali around the corner, the makers are carrying a festive touch to Los Angeles: invitees have been asked to turn up in traditional Indian festive wear for the red carpet.
Directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios in collaboration with DNEG and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations, the two-part saga stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, Sunny Deol as Hanuman and Ravie Dubey as Lakshman. Part 1 releases worldwide on November 5, 2026 in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam, including IMAX and premium large formats, with Sony Pictures handling global distribution outside India. Part 2 is slated for Diwali 2027.
Here is the Filmverse take: this premiere is not marketing garnish — it is a statement of intent. By planting Ramayana inside the Academy Museum, the producers are telling global distributors, critics and awards voters to treat the film as a world-cinema event rather than a regional release with subtitles. If the LA screening lands well, expect the conversation around the film to shift from “India’s biggest film” to “this year’s biggest film,” which is exactly the reframe the November 5 box-office campaign needs. The Diwali-attire red carpet, meanwhile, is canny soft-power branding — a visual that international outlets will run for free. The only risk: the film must now clear a bar it set for itself, under the harshest possible lights, nine days before release. But after the trailer’s reception, the makers clearly believe it will.
Our coverage of the film’s international trailer
Source: The Hollywood Reporter India, Zoom TV, Telugu360
Team Filmverse
Filmverse is an independent entertainment news desk covering Bollywood and Indian cinema — news, trailers, reviews and box office, published daily from Mumbai.
