PremiumL2 Empuraan: Mohanlal film fails to break Marco's record despite being highest-grossing Indian opener of 2025
Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran’s L2 Empuraan might have braved its share of controversies while making loads of money at the box office, but it is yet to eclipse the record of Unni Mukundan’s Marco
Last Updated: 07.46 PM, Apr 03, 2025
Despite its share of controversies, Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran’s L2: Empuraan has already emerged as the highest-grossing Indian opener of 2025, taking home over Rs 200 crore from worldwide box office in less than a week – a stellar effort, especially when this has been achieved only once before in the history of Malayalam cinema. Although the big-budget action-thriller has broken most box-office records in Malayalam cinema, one record remains untouched by Empuraan.
Coincidentally, this record is held by another Malayalam film, which had a large share of its theatrical run in 2025 and was also mired by its fair share of controversies – Unni Mukundan’s Marco. The movie, which was rated A for its extreme violence and gore, also went on to rake in the highest collection for the Hindi dubbed version of a Malayalam film – taking home a figure close to Rs 14 Cr, while the previous best was Prithviraj’s Aadujeevitham, which raked in only Rs 42 lakh.
Empuraan fails to break Marco’s Hindi box office record
In comparison, after a week-long run, Empuraan’s Hindi version had only made Rs 1.98 Cr from its Hindi version. With the Empuraan's dubbed versions receiving lukewarm response as compared to the original Malayalam version, it remains unlikely that the Hindi dub will go on to break Marco’s record in its theatrical run in North India. Empuraan was also not able to take advantage of the poor reviews of Salman Khan's Sikandar which had released on Sunday. Marco, however, had replaced Varun Dhawan's Baby John in theatres in the North India belt after the latter's poor run at the box office.
Meanwhile, Empuraan was the second fastest international film to achieve 4 lakh admissions in the UAE – only behind Avengers: Endgame, according to its producers. The movie had surpassed Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan and Jawan, and was the most viewed film in the UAE during the Eid weekend.
Could Mohanlal’s Empuraan rake in Rs 300 Cr at the box office?
According to film industry tracking website Sacnilk, Empuraan has so far collected Rs 98.70 Cr from India in gross collection in seven days, taking its total worldwide tally to Rs 231 Cr. The film will get another week in theatres, and the makers would be hoping that Empuraan becomes the first-ever Malayalam film to gross Rs 300 Cr worldwide.