Empuraan booking craze intensifies; holiday declared in Bengaluru: Check advance box office for Mohanlal's movie release

The countdown to the theatrical release of Mohanlal’s L2: Empuraan has begun. The highly awaited film has already shattered records with its pre-sales and is set to become the biggest Malayalam grosser during the Eid festive in the first week.

L2: Empuraan, a sequel to 2019's ‘Lucifer’, will be released on Thursday, March 27 in Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. It will be the first Malayalam movie to be released on IMAX.

Biggest Malayalam opener

The Mohanlal-starrer film is already the biggest Malayalam opener, thanks to its pre-sales.

According to industry tracker Sacnilk, the pre-sales of Empuraan on the opening day surpassed ₹35 crore, and crossed ₹50 crore gross for the entire opening weekend at the worldwide box office, with two days still left for the release.

Empuraan is the first Malayalam movie to hit ₹50 crore in sales before its release.

At the overseas box office, Empuraan's pre-sales gross is nearing $4 million ( ₹30+ crore gross), while domestic sales are ₹23+ crore gross.

Empuraan advance box office numbers

With two days left for the Empuraan's release, the movie is heading towards ₹70 crore bookings for the weekend and ₹40-45 crore gross for the first day globally, reported Sacnilk.

Sacnilk said the movie is guaranteed to open with ₹50+ crores gross worldwide, a milestone no one saw coming.

Empuraan breaks Pushpa 2 record in Germany

Sacnilk reported that Empuraan has already recorded the biggest collection in many countries for a Malayalam film.

In Germany, Empuraan's advance sales have crossed the lifetime collection of the recent mega blockbuster Pushpa 2 starring Allu Arjun.

College in Bengaluru announces holiday

The Good Shepherd College, a nursing institute in Bengaluru, has announced a student holiday, because its MD, Tojo John, is a huge fan of Mohanlal.

According to an ANI report, the college will also screen a special show for the students in YGR Signature Mall on its release day.

About Empuraan

The franchise follows Mohanlal’s Stephen Nedumpally, aka Khureshi-Ab’raam, an enigmatic political figure embroiled in a battle for power after a political leader's death. The 2019 film was a major commercial and critical success, earning praise for its action sequences, drama, and Mohanlal’s performance.

L2: Empuraan is scripted by Murali Gopy, who also features in the movie alongside Manju Warrier, Tovino Thomas, Indrajith Sukumaran, Saniya Iyappan and Arjun Das. The film also stars Game of Thrones actor Jerome Flynn.

The Malayalam movie is a “large scale, big canvas, big ticket, commercial action entertainer”, said actor-director Prithviraj Sukumaran.

Sukumaran, who also stars in Empuraan, said that while the Malayalam film industry has produced critically acclaimed, independent movies with unique narratives, it is yet to make a mark in the mainstream space. “L2: Empuraan is our attempt of crashing into that phenomenon.”