Akshay Kumar gave a perfect birthday gift to his fans and himself on his 56th birthday on Saturday, September 9, as he announced his return to the Welcome franchise with the threequel Welcome To The Jungle and shared a star-studded promo announcing film's release date as December 20, 2024, which means five days before Christmas next year.
Apart from Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Arshad Warsi, Paresh Rawal, Johnny Lever, Rajpal Yadav, Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, Krushna Abhishek, Kiku Sharda, Daler Mehndi, Mika Singh, Rahul Dev, Mukesh Tiwari, Sharib Hashmi, Inaamulhaq, Zakir Hussain, Yashpal Sharma, Raveena Tandon, Lara Dutta, Jacqueline Fernandez, Disha Patani, and Vrihi Kodvara are a part of the threequel.
The upcoming comedy is produced by Jio Studios and Firoz A. Nadiadwallah and directed by choreographer and filmmaker Ahmed Khan, who has previously helmed films such as Lakeer, Fool & Final, Baaghi 2, Baaghi 3, and Heropanti 2.
Welcome (2007) and Welcome Back (2015) were directed by Anees Bazmee. While the first one turned out to be a cult classic, the second one, which had John Abrahman replacing Akshay in the lead, bombed at the box office.
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Christmas 2024 might see a triple mega clash at the box office as Aamir Khan and Salman Khan are also considering to pick the same date, December 20 next year, for their upcoming films.
There have been reports that Aamir Khan has locked the film, with which he is all set to make his acting comeback after the Laal Singh Chaddha debacle and he wants to release it on Christmas next year as his multiple blockbusters such as 3 Idiots, PK, Dangal, and Dhoom 3 have had their releases during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Salman Khan's next film after Tiger 3 is a massive action-packed entertainer being produced by Karan Johar and directed by Vishnu Vardhan. Vishnu made his Bollywood debut with the massively acclaimed 2021 war drama Shershaah, starring the real-life couple Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani.
There hasn't been an official announcement made by Aamir Khan and Salman Khan yet. Akshay Kumar has played the first move and now, the ball is in the court of the Andaz Apna Apna stars.
READ | Ajay Devgn pens hilarious birthday wish for Akshay Kumar: 'Kabhi helicopter se latak ke, kabhi coal mine mein ghuske...'
