On 10 February 2022, Sun Pictures officially announced their next film starring Rajinikanth and to be directed by Nelson. As Rajinikanth’s 169th film, it was tentatively titled Thalaivar 169.^[1][2] The title Jailer was announced on 17 June 2022, with the posters revealing Nelson as the sole writer, dismissing earlier reports that K. S. Ravikumar would be writing the screenplay from a story by Rajinikanth. Cinematography is handled by Vijay Karthik Kannan, and editing by R. Nirmal.^[3][4] This also marks the first collaboration of Nelson with Rajinikanth.