PremiumEmpuraan Karnataka box office: Mohanlal-led film records highest opener for a Malayalam movie
Empuraan, which released in theatres on March 27, also holds the distinction for the highest footfalls for any movie in the state this year.
Mohanlal in Empuraan
Last Updated: 05.09 PM, Mar 28, 2025
A whopping 1,008 shows in Bengaluru city alone, of which 840 were allotted to the Malayalam version – Empuraan had a massive opening in Karnataka on March 27. Distributed by Hombale Films in the state, Prithviraj Sukumaran’s latest directorial, surpasses the 367 show count his film Aadujeevitham had in the city. In fact, leading man Mohanlal’ s Malaikottai Vaaliban and Marakkar had less than 200 shows each in Bengaluru when they released.
Empuraan in Karnataka: Record footfalls on Day 1
According to trade trackers, Empuraan recorded a whopping 1.5 lakhs footfalls on Day 1 in Karnataka, making it the highest this year for any film in the state. The day 1 gross, they add, is around Rs 3.6 cr, with only around Rs 50 lakh coming from the Kannada version. The film’s good showing was not limited to the main centre – Bengaluru, what with Mangaluru allotting 97 shows, the highest day 1 show count for a Malayalam film. This beats the single day show count of Kantara (95 shows on Day 17), as well as the opening day footfalls registered by KGF: Chapter 2.
On Day 1, Empuraan had 153 early morning shows (between 6 am and 8 am) in Bengaluru city, surpassing films like RRR (144) and Adhipurush (133). Approximately Rs 73 lakh came from the early morning shows across the state, it is estimated. Meanwhile, the film’s all-India day 1 gross is said to be in the vicinity of Rs 22 crore, while day 2 occupancy has dropped marginally across centres, given the pre-release advances, it is expected to make in the vicinity of Rs 50 crore by the weekend.
However, given that the team never revealed the budget of the film, it remains unclear as to what margin they need to attain for break-even. Also, the film’s performance on the first Monday becomes crucial to see how well it can sustain its current momentum. L2 Empuraan is the second film in Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Lucifer universe and proposed trilogy. While the makers had been clear that the success of Lucifer is what allowed them to make Empuraan on such a massive scale, L3: The Beginning, as the third part is being called, will depend on L2 doing really well.
L3 is being planned as an even bigger film, Prithviraj had said. There is no timeline yet as to when the team will reassemble to make the last part, as the actor-filmmaker has said his next directorial will be Tyson, with Hombale Films.