With the year reaching its halfway mark, anticipation for Shah Rukh Khan’s King continues to soar. Slated to release in December, the film reunites the superstar with Pathaan director Siddharth Anand. While the makers have only unveiled the film’s first look and release date announcement so far, it has been enough to keep fans intrigued, promising Shah Rukh in the avatar of a deadly assassin.Amid the excitement, recent reports claimed that King is being mounted on an estimated budget of Rs 450 crore, making it the most expensive film of Shah Rukh Khan’s career. The reports further suggested that the figure also includes the actor’s remuneration, putting the film ahead of his previous action blockbusters Pathaan (Rs 350 crore) and Jawan (Rs 400 crore) in terms of production cost.However, filmmaker Siddharth Anand has now dismissed these reports. Taking to X, he simply wrote, “False.” Although the director did not specify which report he was referring to, many social media users interpreted the post as a denial of the widely circulated claims about King’s reported budget.False— Siddharth Anand (@justSidAnand) July 8, 2026Also Read | In Diljit Dosanjh’s Satluj, the state writes the obituary but the river remembers the truth‘King has 70 percent of the film industry’A few months ago, actor Saurabh Shukla, who is also a part of King, spoke about the scale of the film in an interview with Hindi Rush. Speaking about the project, the veteran actor claimed that “70 percent of the film industry” is a part of it. When asked about working with Shah Rukh Khan, he said, “Not just me, King has 70 percent of the film industry. Every name that is big enough, they are all there.”Saurabh also described interacting with Shah Rukh as an “enjoyable experience” and praised the superstar’s personality. “He is a great, charismatic man. In King, whatever I have done, it is all quite memorable,” he said.About KingKing is among the most anticipated Hindi releases of the year and will mark Shah Rukh Khan’s return to theatres after a three-year gap. The film also stars Suhana Khan, Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, Anil Kapoor, Jaideep Ahlawat, Jackie Shroff, Arshad Warsi, Abhay Verma and Raghav Juyal in key roles.