2.0 is an upcoming Indian science fiction film written and directed by S. Shankar, co-written by B. Jeyamohan, and produced by Subaskaran Allirajah, founder of Lyca Productions.[4] The movie serves as a sequel to the 2010 Tamil film Enthiran, and features Rajinikanth reprising the roles of Dr. Vaseegaran and Chitti, alongside Akshay Kumar and Amy Jackson.[5] The film will be shot simultaneously in Tamil and Hindi.[6][7][8][9] With an estimated budget of ₹450 crore (₹4.5 billion), it is the most expensive Indian film made to date.[10] A dubbed version in Telugu will release alongside the original Tamil and Hindi versions.[11]The film's worldwide premiere is scheduled for 25 January 2018, and the film is expected to be released in 15 languages.[12]

2.0

First look poster
Directed by S. Shankar
Produced by Subaskaran Allirajah
Written by S. Shankar
B. Jeyamohan
Starring Rajinikanth
Akshay Kumar
Amy Jackson
Narrated by Rajinikanth
Music by A. R. Rahman
Cinematography Nirav Shah
Edited by Anthony
Production
company
Lyca Productions
Release date
25 January 2018[1]
Country India
Language Tamil
Hindi
Budget ₹4.5 billion[2] [3]
Cast

Rajinikanth as Dr. Vaseegaran and Chitti
Akshay Kumar as Dr. Richard[13][14][15]
Amy Jackson
Sudhanshu Pandey as Bohra Junior[16]
Adil Hussain[17]
Kalabhavan Shajohn[18]
Riyaz Khan[19]
Production

Development
The commercial success of Enthiran (2010) prompted the makers of the film to immediately consider making a sequel. By March 2011, the original film's cinematographer, Rathnavelu, revealed that initial pre-production work on a sequel had begun with the same technical team.[20][21] S. Shankar, the director of Enthiran, moved on to work on Nanban (2012) and I (2015) and planned to reunite with the same producers as the original was released, with Shankar revealing that he was unsure if the film "will happen at all" during an interview in 2014.[22] While finishing the production of I, Shankar drafted the scripts of three more feature films, including that of a sequel to Enthiran.[22]

Pre-production work for the film was reported to have started in June 2015 with Lyca Productions deciding to finance the project. Along with Shankar and Rajinikanth, composer A. R. Rahman and editor Anthony remained on the development team for the sequel, while Jeyamohan was added to help write dialogues. Shankar also began briefing the film's art director T. Muthuraj and visual effects supervisor V. Srinivas Mohan about their involvement in the film.[23][24] Shankar had initially inquired about K. V. Anand's availability. This was before Nirav Shah joined the technical team as a cinematographer in mid-2015 and visited specialist studios in the United States to research filming methods for 3D shoots.[25] [26][27][28] Jeyamohan finished work on the script of the film in September 2015 and revealed that the story would be a direct continuation of the 2010 film, with filming only set to start following the completion of Rajinikanth's commitments in Kabali (2016). The original film's dialogue writer, Madhan Karky, helped Jeyamohan on some of the more technical dialogue in the script.[29][30] A press release coinciding with the start of the film's shoot also revealed that Resul Pookutty would handle sound designing, Legacy Effects would take care of animatronics work, and Mary E. Vogt would design special costumes. Stunt choreographer Kenny Bates and visual effects specialists John Hughes and Walt Jones were also signed to work on the film.[31] In June 2016, Pookutty revealed during film production that it would not serve as a sequel to Enthiran but rather a spiritual successor.[32][33]

Casting
Shankar held initial discussions with Kamal Haasan, Aamir Khan, and then Vikram about portraying a further role, though none of the three actors signed on to appear in the film.[34][35] Subsequently, the team held talks with Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger for the role, who agreed to work on the film for a record remuneration.[36][