Atlee, who began his directing career with “Raja Rani,” became successful as a commercial director later with actor Vijay through three blockbuster movies: Theri, Mersal, and Bigil. Couple of years back, there were rumors that Sun Pictures planned a pan-India movie with the duo, with a massive ₹200 crore budget.
However, Shah Rukh Khan approached Atlee for Jawan, which was quickly completed and became a huge success. Vijay’s next film ended up with Venkat Prabhu instead. Since Atlee had already taken an advance from Sun Pictures, he promised to finish the project with another hero. After much consideration, Allu Arjun was finalized for the ambitious science-fiction drama.
Some say the film’s subject was initially meant for Salman Khan, but Atlee adapted it for Allu Arjun, giving him a dual role. Sun Pictures, known for working only with Tamil heroes, decided to make this change due to the massive success of Allu Arjun’s Pushpa. Vijay’s shift towards politics might also have influenced the decision to go ahead with Bunny for such a high-budget film.