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Empuraan Movie Release Date: By now, it is safe to say that actor Prithviraj Sukumaran’s third directorial venture, L2: Empuraan, starring superstar Mohanlal in the lead role, is the most hyped Malayalam film of all time. And this buzz is not limited to social media alone, as was the case with several recent big-budget, aspirational movies. Empuraan has successfully translated its hype into tangible business, and its presales have so far been extraordinary, even setting advance booking records — just as a major release should.
The excitement surrounding the film isn’t solely driven by Mohanlal’s stardom or the well-executed promotional campaign. A significant factor is that Empuraan serves as the second installment in a planned trilogy that began with Prithviraj’s directorial debut Lucifer (2019), which opened to widespread acclaim and became one of the most successful box office hits in Malayalam cinema history. Now, as Prithviraj gears up to reintroduce Mohanlal as politician Stephen Nedumpally, who operates under the alias Khureshi-Ab’raam in the world of organised crime, expectations have reached an all-time high.
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While Lucifer hit the screens on March 28, 2019, Empuraan arrives almost exactly six years later. Jointly bankrolled by Antony Perumbavoor and Gokulam Gopalan under the banners of Aashirvad Cinemas Pvt Ltd and Sree Gokulam Movies, respectively, Empuraan will have a worldwide release on March 27 (Thursday). The first-day, first-show screening of the action thriller will begin at 6 am in Indian states where early morning screenings are permitted, including Kerala.
As per listings on BookMyShow, India’s leading entertainment ticketing platform, ticket prices in Kochi have remained largely standard, with slight increases in select theatres. Multiplex tickets are priced between Rs 200 and Rs 400, depending on the theatre’s quality, while premium recliner seats range up to Rs 800. However, ultra-premium screens such as PVR LUXE have ticket prices reaching Rs 1,400. Nonetheless, in single-screen theatres, rates have remained mostly unchanged, ranging between Rs 100 and Rs 250. IMAX 2D tickets for the opening day have sold out for rates between Rs 800 and Rs 1,000. While ticket prices for the Malayalam version remain reasonable in cities like Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai, they have crossed Rs 500 in multiple theatres across Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR.
Having sold over 1 million tickets in advance on BookMyShow — making it the first-ever Malayalam film to achieve this feat — the action thriller has already recorded a presale business of over Rs 60 crore. In conversation with SCREEN, leading industry trackers predicted that the movie would comfortably surpass the Rs 40 crore mark on its opening day, delivering the biggest worldwide opening for a Malayalam film. This would be more than double the record set by renowned filmmaker Priyadarshan’s epic historical drama Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham (2021), also starring Mohanlal.
In Kerala, Empuraan’s competition for the highest opening-day collection is with director Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Leo, starring ‘Thalapathy’ Vijay, which earned Rs 12 crore. While one industry analyst estimated that the Mohanlal-starrer would collect between Rs 8 and Rs 10 crore on its first day in the state, it remains to be seen whether Empuraan can break Leo’s record, though it isn’t out of the question.
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