Slumdog millionaire came within a whisker of never actually making it to the cinemas. This was due to the economic downturn which forced the distributors out of buisness. The film risked being closed down and was meant to go straight to dvd release. It was during a crisis in spring 2008 that Warner Bros decided to hedge its relatively small bet (around $5 million) on Slumdog by handing over 50 per cent of the US distribution rights to Fox Searchlight which also has its own synergies with part of News Corporation, parent company ofThe Times.

At the same time, Warner Bros decided to shut down its Warner Independent Pictures division, which had co-produced Slumdog along with Pathé, Celador Films, and Film4, to focus on more mass-appeal movies such as The Dark Knight. Of all the movies on Warner Independent Pictures’ 2008 slate, it is thought that Slumdog was the only one that had its distribution rights sold to a third party.

When first shown to warner bros back in London it was said to be like showing it to a "brick wall" explains Peter Carlton, senior commissioning executive at film 4. However they were told afterwards they were thinking of sticking it out on DVD.

But Mr Carlton said that Slumdog’s eventual distribution deal with Fox Searchlight remained heavily biased in favour of the studio. He accused big American studios like Fox and Warner Bros of “damaging British film” by imposing distribution deals that gave little or nothing back to independent film financiers.

“They make sure they’re the first in line for the profits. And the second and third in line as well. It’s damaging to the whole British film industry.”

Slumdog however when released had a fair share of crtiscism with Indians arguing that the film was just another syereotypical deception of their country. An article from the LA times brands the film to show the Indian culture as "corruption and impoverished-if-resilient natives."