The Greatest of All Time

Additionally, deceased actor-politician Vijayakanth and Y. G. Mahendran will make cameo appearances in the film with the makers using artificial intelligence for the former.

Development

The Greatest of All Time is the first collaboration between Vijay and Venkat Prabhu.

In late November 2021, Vijay, who had collaborated with director Atlee for three successful films, was reported to collaborate again with the latter for his 68th film as the lead actor.^[4] Marking their collaboration after Theri (2016), Mersal (2017), and Bigil (2019), the production process was set to begin after the director completed his commitments for his debut Hindi film, Jawan (2023).^[5][6] In the meantime, Vijay would work on two projects, Varisu and Leo (both 2023).^[7] On 24 December, Yuvan Shankar Raja, through X (formerly Twitter), posted a picture of himself and Vijay,^[8] which was speculated to hint a reunion in the near future after Pudhiya Geethai (2003).^[9] Reports of the collaboration between Vijay and Atlee continued throughout 2022.^[10] That December, it was reported that filming was set to commence in June 2023, as Atlee by then had completed Jawan, as the initial film's release date was 2 June 2023; but was postponed.^[11]

The following May, Atlee was confirmed to not direct the project, as he had signed another Hindi film, which became Baby John.^[12] The same month, Vijay had reportedly listened to multiple scripts, which included from directors Venkat Prabhu and Gopichand Malineni.^[13] On 21 May, Vijay, through his social media pages, announced that his 68th film would be helmed by Prabhu, tentatively titled Thalapathy 68.^[14] AGS Entertainment was revealed to produce the film, while Archana Kalpathi and Aishwarya Kalapathi served as the creative producer and her associate respectively.^[15] Multiple reports stated that Vijay would receive a remuneration of ₹200 crore (US$25 million) for the film, which would make him the highest-paid film actor in India.^[16][17] In the following August, the team left for Los Angeles to use visual effects scanning to create the look of one of Vijay's characters; this technique was previously used for Fan (2016) and Indian 2.^[18] The film's official title, The Greatest of All Time, was announced on 31 December 2023.^[19]

Pre-production

A second promotional poster was released on 1 January 2024, hinting at the film being a science fiction film.^[20] Prabhu had met Vijay ten months prior to the announcement and narrated a one-liner, which the latter requested to develop.^[21] After completing the development in early-May 2023, Prabhu met Vijay again later that month and narrated the script. Vijay then 'okayed' the script and finalised him.^[22] Prabhu co-wrote the film's script dialogues with Viji, with additional screenplay written by K. Chandru and Ezhilarasu Gunasekaran.^[23] A muhurat puja was held on 2 October 2023 at Prasad Labs in Chennai with the film's cast and crew.^[24][25]

In mid-July 2023, Siddhartha Nuni was announced as the cinematographer, in his third Tamil film after Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu (2022) and Captain Miller (2024), marking his first film with Vijay and Prabhu.^[26] Yuvan Shankar Raja was confirmed to score the music, in his third consecutive film with the director after they had done a total of ten films.^[27][28] Prabhu further retained most of the crew from his previous films, including editor Venkat Raajen, production designer Rajeevan Nanbiyar, stunt choreographer Dhilip Subbarayan, art directors Sekar and Surya Rajeevan, costume designers Vasuki Bhaskar and Pallavi Singh.^[29][15] S. M. Venkat Manickam was appointed as the executive producer.^[30]

Casting

Prashanth was cast in an important role, collaborating with Vijay for the first time, with Prabhu Deva cast for the same, but collaborating with the latter for the third time.

Vijay will be seen in a dual role as a elderly and a younger man,^[31][32] and would sport a clean-shaven look for one of them, after Vettaikaaran, and Sura.^[33] Meenakshi Chaudhary and Sneha were both cast as the female leads, with the former paired opposite the younger character of Vijay,^[34] in her first collaboration with the actor,^[35][36] and the latter opposite the older character, reuniting with the actor after Vaseegara (2003).^[37][38] Prabhu Deva was confirmed to play an important role, collaborating with Vijay for the after previously directing the actor in two films, Pokkiri (2007) and Villu (2009),^[39] whilst Prashanth also joined the film in an important role,^[40] collaborating with the latter for the first time.^[41]

Laila,^[42] Vaibhav,^[43] Mohan,^[44] Jayaram,^[45] and Ajmal Ameer,^[46] Yogi Babu,^[47] VTV Ganesh,^[48] Prabhu's frequent collaborators Premgi Amaren,^[15] Aravind Akash,^[49] and Ajay Raj were announced to play prominent roles.^[50] With Babu and Ganesh making their first collaboration with Prabhu, all of their inclusion was confirmed during their presence at the muhurat puja.^[51][52] Ganja Karuppu revealed that he was a part of the cast in mid December,^[53] while Parvati Nair did the same the following month.^[54][55] Yugendran was present at the film's preliminary shooting, confirming his presence; he would act with Vijay after Thirupaachi (2005).^[56] Premalatha, the wife of late Vijayakanth, confirmed that the latter would be featured in a scene for the film with the use of artificial intelligence (AI).^[57][58] Y. G. Mahendran stated that he would also make a cameo appearance, during an interview with Filmibeat.^[59][60]

Filming

One of the schedules was filmed in Bangkok.

Principal photography began with the first schedule on 3 October 2023 at Prasad Labs in Chennai.^[61] The song "Whistle Podu", choreographed by Raju Sundaram and picturing Vijay, Prashanth, Deva and Ajmal, was firstly filmed.^[62] Reportedly, the makers used AI for the sequence which concluded by 9 October.^[63] The second schedule commenced in Thailand on 30 October,^[64] with Vijay joining them on 3 November.^[65] The team shot mostly at Bangkok in this schedule.^[66] Within ten days of filming, Vijay completed filming his portions for the schedule and returned back to Chennai; the makers stayed in Thailand and filmed portions not involving the actor.^[67] A minor portion was shot soon after at Prasad Labs in late November,^[68] before they moved to a film city in Hyderabad.^[69] Prabhu had reportedly united a major cast to film important sequences before the schedule ended by 27 December.^[70] Filming resumed in Sri Lanka on 7 January 2024, following a hiatus for the New Year's.^[71]

On 2 February, Vijay announced his retirement from films after completing one more film and his entry into politics, making this his penultimate film.^[72] Siddhartha Nuni had used three cameras to shoot a significant sequence; something he had never done before, according to him.^[73] In early February, he stated that halfway of filming was completed.^[74] A minor schedule began in Pondicherry on 5 February.^[75] A footage of Vijay, Prashanth and Deva was leaked during this schedule, and went viral on social media platforms.^[76] This led to the film's official technology security partner to warn social media users from sharing the leaked content or their accounts would be deleted.^[77] Filming then resumed with a song sequence, which reportedly went on for a week.^[78] In early-March, it was reported that an item number featuring Trisha was shot in Chennai.^[79] The makers had initially decided to shoot the following schedule in Morocco; however, the filming locations was instead finalised in Kerala.^[80] The schedule there was intended to begin on 16 March,^[81] but commenced two days later.^[82]

After Kaavalan (2011), Vijay would make his return to Kerala for filming with this film. Therefore, the fans of his gathered in front of the airport the actor would land at. A crowd was gathered from 11am to 5pm.^[83] The schedule began filming in Greenfield International Stadium at Thiruvananthapuram.^[84] A sequence featuring at least 3000 background artists was reportedly filmed inside of the stadium.^[83] Because of his fans presence outside the stadium at midnight during filming on 21 March, Vijay paused the shooting, met and greeted with them.^[85] On the day after, the actor arranged an outside gathering there with his fans. As his usual trademark, he took a video and posted it on his social media pages.^[86] Filming for the scheduled portions was completed by 23 March.^[87] On 7 April, the makers flew to Moscow in Russia for the following schedule.^[88] The sequence filmed at the beginning of the schedule was reported to be filmed at a school campus.^[89] A chase sequence was filmed in the schedule. Vijay returned to Chennai on 18 April to cast his vote in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.^[90] The actor received an injury during filming before flying back. A short schedule, with Vijay being a part, began filming soon after in Chennai.^[91]

Post-production

Some of the post-production works were done at Los Angeles, USA.

In March 2024, Venkat Prabhu confirmed that VFX and CGI works had begun, simultaneously with filming, in Chennai and Los Angeles. He further added that the effects works would be done by five companies.^[92][93] Harihara Suthan is the film's visual effects supervisor, under SuthanVFX, along with B2H Studios which will be handling the digital intermediate.^{[citation needed]} The Times of India reported that ₹6 crore (US$750,000) was used on advanced de-aging technology for a ten-minute sequence featuring the younger character of Vijay.^[94] Initially, the film was planned to be released in June, coinciding with Vijay's 50th birthday; however, it was delayed due to extensive post-production and VFX works.^[95][96]

The music and background score is composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, in his second collaboration with Vijay after Pudhiya Geethai, and tenth with Prabhu.^[97] The audio rights for the film were purchased by T-Series for ₹26 crore (US$3.3 million).^[98] Prabhu's father Gangai Amaran, Madhan Karky, Kabilan Vairamuthu and Vivek were revealed to be writing the lyrics for the tracks.^[99] Arivu was initially signed to write one track; however, due to reasons unknown, he was subsequently replaced with Vivek.^[100]

The first single, "Whistle Podu", which Yuvan stated would be a dappankuthu number, was released on 14 April 2024.^[101][102] The song received a mixed response from fans, although some felt its reception would improve with time.^[103] Despite the mixed response, it became South India's most-viewed first single lyrical video gaining 25.5 million views within 24 hours, beating "Arabic Kuthu" which gained 23.7 million views.^[104] The second single is scheduled to release in June.^[105]

Theatrical

The Greatest of All Time is scheduled to release theatrically on 5 September 2024, coinciding with Ganesh Chaturthi.^[106] Apart from the original Tamil version, it is also scheduled to be released with dubbed versions in Telugu and Hindi.^[107] The film's overseas theatrical rights were sold to Phars Films.^[108]

Home media

The film's streaming rights were acquired by Netflix for ₹125 crore (US$16 million).^[109][110]

Following the release of the song "Whistle Podu", a social activitist filed a police complaint at Mylapore Police Station in Chennai to DGP Office, stating that the lyrical video did not feature any disclaimer on drinking or smoking and promotes drug addiction and rowdyism to the youth, demanding an action towards Vijay and ban to the song.^[111]

• The Greatest of All Time at IMDb