Shah Rukh Khan is returning to the big screen after three years with King. Directed by Siddharth Anand, the action thriller is mounted on a massive scale
and has a star-studded cast. The actor-director duo is reuniting, and the release date of King was announced a day before the 3rd anniversary of their blockbuster spy thriller, Pathaan. Unveiling a new promo, Shah Rukh confirmed that King is scheduled to release theatrically on December 24. The Bollywood superstar was last seen in Dunki, which released in 2023. He had three movies that year. Recently, Shah Rukh made a cameo in his son Aryan Khan’s directorial debut, The Ba***ds of Bollywood, in September 2025.
Shah Rukh Khan unveils new King promo date announcement promo
In the newly launched promo of King, Shah Rukh roars on top of a snow-clad mountain peak. Dressed in a white shirt covered with blood, he breaks through a glass ceiling. Sporting tattoos all over his body, the latest clip shows him flaunting short black hair. He says, “Darr nahi dehshat hoon,” while smashing a person’s face. The teaser reveals the release date as December 24, 2026.
King is most anticipated film of 2026
On January 15, IMDb unveiled the Most Anticipated Indian Movies of 2026. King topped the list. Siddharth Anand reacted to it by writing, “Wow! Some more motivation never hurt (sic).” Following this, the director and producer started building up anticipation for the release date announcement.
According to IMDb’s site, the data was collected based on the ‘Indian movies with planned releases in 2026.’ The website read, ‘These titles were consistently the most popular with IMDb customers, as determined by the actual page views of the more than 250 million monthly visitors to IMDb worldwide.’
What did Shah Rukh Khan say about his King character?
During his annual meet with fans on November 2, 2025, Shah Rukh spoke about his character in King and clarified that he is a very dark character. Whether a hero or a villain, he left it upto the audience to decide. Calling it a grey character, Shah Rukh expressed that it is an interesting part to play. It is touted to be the most ruthless role Shah Rukh has ever played. The superstar hoped that his fans would accept him in a different role. He also clarified that the character is not purely negative. It has an interesting arc. Praising director Siddharth for mounting it on a big scale, Shah Rukh discussed the role and its depth with his fans.
King cast
Besides Shah Rukh Khan, King also stars Suhana Khan, Rani Mukerji, Abhishek Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Arshad Warsi and Abhay Verma.
