Ramayana 2026: Trailer, Release Date, Cast, Where to Watch

The first full trailer for Ramayana: Part One went out worldwide on 30 July 2026, and the single most useful fact in the announcement is not on screen at all. Sony Pictures is distributing the film in every territory outside India, there is a dedicated English-language version alongside the Indian ones, and the film carries the "Filmed for IMAX" certification. If you are in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada or Australia, this is not the usual limited diaspora booking that Indian releases get abroad. It is a Hollywood studio putting an Indian film into its own pipeline.

The one thing that is genuinely not settled is the date. The official announcement wording says the film releases worldwide on Diwali 2026 and stops there. It does not name a day. Individual outlets have printed 30 October, 5 November, 6 November, 7 November and 8 November as though each were fixed, and a trade report says the producers were still choosing between two of those. Until Sony or Prime Focus Studios posts an actual calendar date, treat every specific day you see as an estimate. We will update this page the moment one is locked.

Where to watch Ramayana in the US, UK, Canada and Australia

Sony Pictures acquired international distribution on Ramayana in late July 2026, covering all countries outside India. Inside India, Dharma Productions handles North India distribution. That split is the whole story for overseas viewers, because it changes what a release actually looks like.

Three things follow from the Sony deal. The first two are in the official billing; the third is a trade report:

• An English-language version. The film is being released internationally in multiple languages including a premium English-language version, not just subtitled Hindi. That is unusual for an Indian tentpole and it is the clearest signal that Sony is aiming past the diaspora audience.
• IMAX screens. Ramayana is the first Indian production to carry the "Filmed for IMAX" label, meaning it was shot on IMAX-certified digital cameras rather than 70mm film. It sits on IMAX's announced 2026 global premium slate, and both parts were shot for the format.
• A studio marketing spend. Sony has reportedly committed USD 25 million to international marketing, with the producers adding around USD 15 million on top. Reported figures, not audited ones, but the order of magnitude is a wide release rather than a weekend of one-off screenings.

What has not been announced is a separate date for any individual overseas market. There is no confirmed US date, no confirmed UK date, no Australian or Canadian date. The billing is "worldwide, Diwali 2026", which in practice points to a near-simultaneous global rollout in early November. Ticket links will not appear on Fandango, Odeon, Cineplex or Event Cinemas until Sony sets the day.

Is Ramayana on any streaming service?

No. There is no streaming release, no streaming date, and as of 31 July 2026 no announced digital partner. Bollywood Hungama reported that producer Namit Malhotra turned down an offer of roughly Rs 700 crore for the post-theatrical rights to both parts and is holding out for a figure closer to Rs 1,000 crore. That is a report, not a signed deal, and no platform has been named. Anyone telling you Ramayana is coming to a specific service on a specific date is guessing.

India

In India the film releases theatrically in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, the same five languages the trailer launched in. Dharma Productions is the North India distributor. Indian audiences also got the trailer on the big screen first: it was attached to prints of Spider-Man: Brand New Day in Indian cinemas. That attachment was confirmed for India specifically. We have not seen it confirmed for US or UK prints.

The release date, and why nobody actually knows it

Diwali 2026 is a five-day window. Dhanteras falls on Friday 6 November, the main Lakshmi Puja day is Sunday 8 November, and Bhai Dooj closes it on Tuesday 10 November. A film billed for "Diwali" can legitimately land anywhere across that stretch, or in the week before it.

Here is what is actually on the record. The official release announcement that went out with the trailer states that Ramayana: Part One releases worldwide on Diwali 2026, with Sony Pictures on global distribution and Dharma on North India. No day is named. Pinkvilla reported that two dates were under consideration, 30 October and 6 November, with the earlier slot favoured because it would secure IMAX screens before Godzilla Minus Zero takes them. That is a real constraint: Godzilla Minus Zero is itself an IMAX title and is dated 6 November in North America and the UK.

Meanwhile The Hollywood Reporter India printed 5 November, FirstShowing printed 7 November, Gulf News printed 8 November, and TMDB currently lists 8 November. Add the 30 October and 6 November options above and that is five different days in circulation, all stated flatly, none of them coming from an official date announcement. That is the situation as of 31 July 2026.

What actually happened with the trailer

The trailer rollout was messy, and the sequence matters because a lot of the coverage has it out of order.

Footage first escaped after a Delhi event called Pratham Sankalp on 19 July 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, where the trailer was screened in 3D for an invited audience and short recordings made their way online. The Ramayana team then took the film to San Diego Comic-Con, appearing in Ballroom 20 on 23 July, the Thursday of the convention, with Ranbir Kapoor, Yash, director Nitesh Tiwari and producer Namit Malhotra on the panel. It was one of the very few Indian films ever given a major Comic-Con showcase.

The full trailer had been scheduled to go public on 24 July. It did not. Malhotra announced a postponement on Instagram, framing it around the newly signed Sony Pictures partnership and a revised global launch plan. More low-resolution clips leaked in the gap, and the fan reaction was less outrage at piracy than impatience with the delay.

The official trailer finally dropped on 30 July 2026 at 4:15 am IST, timed to Brahma Muhurat, running four minutes and nine seconds, in all five Indian languages simultaneously. Indian outlets reported it crossing 5 million views within six hours. Sunny Deol does not appear in it.

The confirmed cast

The cast list below comes from the official release announcement and from trade coverage of the trailer.

Ranbir Kapoor as Rama

Kapoor leads as Lord Rama. He has separately confirmed a second role, Parashurama, explaining at a Los Angeles press event that both are avatars of Vishnu and that Parashurama precedes Rama. He has described roughly a year of preparation focused on the interiority of the part rather than the physical side.

Yash as Ravana

The KGF star plays Ravana, and he is also a co-producer through his company Monster Mind Creations. Reviews of the trailer were near-unanimous that Ravana dominates it, which is a deliberate choice: the marketing has led with the antagonist rather than the hero. Yash used his Comic-Con appearance to argue that a crowd raised on large-scale fantasy is exactly the right first audience for the film.

Sai Pallavi as Sita

Sai Pallavi plays Sita. She is the least internationally known of the three leads, and the trailer coverage was broadly positive on her.

Sunny Deol as Hanuman

Deol is confirmed as Hanuman in the official cast billing, but he is absent from the trailer entirely, which was the single most asked question about it in India. At the launch Deol said he had only recently started work on the film. Most coverage reads that as Hanuman being weighted toward Part Two, where the Vanara army and the war sit, rather than as any change to his casting.

Shurpanakha, Mandodari and the Lanka side

The full cast rundown went out with the trailer on 30 July. Rakul Preet Singh plays Shurpanakha, Ravana's sister. Shobana plays Kaikesi, Ravana's mother. Kajal Aggarwal plays Mandodari, Ravana's queen, and Vivek Oberoi plays Vidyutjihva. On the Ayodhya side, Ravie Dubey is Lakshmana, Arun Govil is King Dasharatha, Lara Dutta is Kaikeyi, Indira Krishnan is Kaushalya, Sonal Jha is Sumitra, Sheeba Chaddha is Manthara and Adinath Kothare is Bharata. Also named: Ajinkya Deo as Vishwamitra, Kunal Kapoor as Indra, Faisal Malik as Kumbhakarna, Saurabh Sachdeva as Mareech and Harish Uthaman as Vibhishana.

Casting Arun Govil is its own piece of shorthand for Indian viewers: he played Rama in the 1987 television Ramayan, and he is now playing Rama's father.

Namit Malhotra, DNEG and the two composers

Ramayana is produced by Namit Malhotra through Prime Focus Studios, with Yash's Monster Mind Creations co-producing. Malhotra is the chairman of DNEG, the eight-time Oscar-winning visual effects house behind the Dune films, Interstellar and Inception, and DNEG plus its sister company ReDefine are doing the effects work here. That is the reason the film exists in this form: the producer owns the VFX pipeline.

The score is shared between Hans Zimmer and A.R. Rahman, the first time the two have worked on the same project. Reporting indicates Rahman is handling the songs and Zimmer the background score, though the official credits simply list both for music. Screenplay is credited to Shridhar Raghavan and Tiwari. Guy Norris is the action director, Terry Notary is the performance specialist handling motion capture and creature movement for the Vanara side, Dan Glass supervises visual effects, and production design is led by Ramsey Avery and Ravi Bansal.

Budget figures should be read with care. Trade coverage in Variety and IndieWire put the combined cost of both parts at around USD 500 million including prints and advertising. Indian outlets have printed rupee figures ranging from about Rs 1,000 crore for production across both parts up to Rs 4,000 crore all in. Those are reported estimates and they do not reconcile with each other.

Two parts, two Diwalis

Ramayana is a two-film story. Part One is the Diwali 2026 release. Part Two is slated for Diwali 2027 and is still in production. Nitesh Tiwari has explained the split simply: the material could not be served inside one film, so the team found a point in the screenplay where the first chapter could close and the rest could carry over. The trailer's beats run from Ayodhya through the exile and toward Lanka, which tells you roughly where the break is likely to sit.

Frequently asked questions

When is Ramayana releasing?

Officially, Diwali 2026, worldwide. No exact day has been announced. Outlets have printed 30 October, 5 November, 6 November, 7 November and 8 November. Diwali itself falls on 8 November 2026.

Is Ramayana releasing in the US and UK?

Yes. Sony Pictures holds distribution for every territory outside India and there is an English-language version plus an IMAX release. No market-specific date has been announced yet.

Will Ramayana be on Netflix or Prime Video?

No streaming deal has been announced. A report says the producers rejected an offer near Rs 700 crore for digital rights to both parts. No platform and no date exist yet.

Who plays Ravana in Ramayana?

Yash, the KGF star, who is also a co-producer on the film through Monster Mind Creations.

Who plays Shurpanakha?

Rakul Preet Singh, per the official cast announcement.

Is Ramayana in IMAX?

Yes. It is the first Indian production to receive the "Filmed for IMAX" label, and both parts were shot for the format.

Why was the Ramayana trailer delayed?

It was pulled from its 24 July slot after the Sony Pictures international distribution deal was signed, so the launch could be replanned as a global rollout. It went out on 30 July instead.

How long is the Ramayana trailer?

Four minutes and nine seconds, released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

What to watch next

If you are tracking the biggest theatrical swings of the next eighteen months, these pair well with Ramayana:

• The Odyssey, Christopher Nolan's own IMAX-shot epic adaptation, and the closest Western analogue to what Ramayana is attempting.
• Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the Sony release whose prints carried the Ramayana trailer into Indian cinemas.
• Godzilla Minus Zero and the full Godzilla watch order, the IMAX title reportedly shaping Ramayana's date choice.
• Peddi, another Indian tentpole with an international release plan worth watching.
• Dhurandhar: The Revenge, a useful case study in how Indian films are now being staggered onto streaming abroad.

For everything else, you can filter by platform, country and mood on The Movies Finder discover page and see what is actually streaming where you are.