Summary
- Shah Rukh Khan’s upcoming action thriller King is shaping up to be not just one of the most anticipated Bollywood releases of the year but also the most expensive film of his career, with reports suggesting the budget has grown significantly as the production’s ambition has expanded.
- The film has been shot across multiple international locations over more than 150 days, a scale that reflects the kind of sweeping, globe-spanning production design that Anand brought to his earlier collaborations with Hrithik Roshan and Shah Rukh Khan himself.
- King reunites Shah Rukh Khan with Deepika Padukone, the pair who last shared the screen in Chennai Express and Om Shanti Om, making their reunion one of the most commercially anticipated in recent Bollywood memory.
Shah Rukh Khan’s upcoming action thriller King is shaping up to be not just one of the most anticipated Bollywood releases of the year but also the most expensive film of his career, with reports suggesting the budget has grown significantly as the production’s ambition has expanded.
Directed by Siddharth Anand, King has been in production for over a year and three months and is expected to wrap filming by August 2026. The film has been shot across multiple international locations over more than 150 days, a scale that reflects the kind of sweeping, globe-spanning production design that Anand brought to his earlier collaborations with Hrithik Roshan and Shah Rukh Khan himself.
According to a source cited by Bollywood Hungama, the budget for King currently stands at approximately INR 450 crore, excluding print and publicity costs as well as Khan’s own acting fee. That figure would make it the most expensive film Shah Rukh Khan has ever been part of, surpassing the record previously held by Jawan.
The source explained that what began as an action thriller has evolved considerably under the combined ambition of Khan and Anand, growing into what they described as a tentpole action spectacle featuring some of the biggest action sequences Indian cinema audiences will have witnessed. They added that every rupee spent would be visible on screen, promising a new kind of cinematic experience for Khan’s audience.
A significant portion of the budget is reportedly going toward high-level visual effects, which are being handled by Red Chillies Entertainment, Shah Rukh Khan’s own production company. The in-house VFX work gives the production a degree of creative and technical control that many large-scale productions outsource to third parties.
Director Siddharth Anand was asked about the reports, and his response was characteristically brief. He replied with a single word on social media, writing simply “false,” stopping short of offering any official clarification or alternative figures.
King reunites Shah Rukh Khan with Deepika Padukone, the pair who last shared the screen in Chennai Express and Om Shanti Om, making their reunion one of the most commercially anticipated in recent Bollywood memory. The film also features Suhana Khan, making it a rare occasion on which Khan and his daughter appear in the same production. The wider ensemble includes Rani Mukerji, Abhishek Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Abhay Verma and Arshad Warsi, a cast that underlines the production’s ambition to deliver an event film rather than a conventional release.
King is currently scheduled for theatrical release on December 24, 2026, a date that positions it squarely in the centre of the holiday season, where competition for screens and audiences is always fierce but the rewards for a successful release are correspondingly large.
