PremiumEmpuraan: G Suresh Kumar credits 'controversy, overseas collection' for Mohanlal-starrer's 'once in a blue moon' achievement | Exclusive
Producer G Suresh Kumar, who faced flak for revealing the budget of Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Empuraan, reacted to the makers’ claim that the film has recovered Rs 100 Cr in theatre share
Last Updated: 12.13 PM, Apr 04, 2025
Superstars Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran’s film L2: Empuraan has reportedly broken all box-office records in Malayalam film industry, and the latest claim by the makers, which was also widely shared by fan groups, was the team took up the challenge of Kerala Film Producers Association’s senior official G Suresh Kumar to “show one Malayalam film that has given Rs 100 Cr in theatre share”.
Fan groups have been abuzz with posts that claim that Empuraan, which has reportedly crossed Rs 230 Cr in worldwide gross and Rs 100 Cr in theatre share. For the uninitiated, the theatre share is what solely reaches the producer of the movie. “For instance, if a movie makes Rs 100 overall gross, 30% of this goes as tax, and the remaining 70% is divided between the producers, and distributors and exhibitors. For the first week, the producer gets 50%, the second week, 55% and third week onwards, 65% of this share,” Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) official Anil V Thomas had previously explained.
G Suresh Kumar reacts to Empuraan's Rs 100 Cr theatre share claim
Talking exclusively to OTTplay, Suresh Kumar, however, admits that it is possible for Empuraan to make Rs 100 Cr in theatre share. “But it has not happened till now,” he tells us. “It might happen in the coming week. Within the first five days, the movie made Rs 30 Cr in theatre share only from Kerala. It would be around Rs 40-45Cr now. Plus, the movie would have also made another Rs 40 Cr from the rest of India as well as overseas markets.”
The previous Malayalam film that brought in the highest theatre share for the producers was Manjummel Boys, which according to the KFCC, was less than Rs 50 Cr. On this figure too, Suresh says, “I doubt whether Manjummel Boys made that much money, because they had extrapolated the theatre share they got from outside Kerala. But in case on Empuraan, the movie did rake in massive revenue from overseas theatres.”
Producer Suresh Kumar, however, says that he isn’t sure if this revenue is enough to recover the film’s costs. “The collections have already started dropping. The movie might have a total of a three-week run, mainly because the controversy has helped sustain that momentum. If you look at any Antony Perumbavoor production, there’s a controversy and that has helped build up on the initial opening for the films. I also doubt whether that’s the reason he shared a post against me,” he adds.
Empuraan's success spurs on other producers in Malayalam cinema?
Ask him if Empuraan’s massive success has managed to instill some sense of confidence to Malayalam producers and he says, “It’s a huge achievement, but it doesn’t mean that everything that you touch will turn into gold. It happens once in a blue moon. If people jump because of Empuraan, they will break their legs. The controversy also helped the collections.”
The producer, who had earlier got into trouble to revealing Empuraan’s budget, now maintains that he isn’t sure about how much the film has cost its production team. “They have made the movie on a grand scale. I had to face flak when I said it cost about Rs 141 Cr and now they are saying it’s Rs 228 Cr. If it’s the latter, then it’s obviously a loss to the producer. So, we can’t say for sure how much confidence it gives to the others, till they let us know the right figures,” he concludes.