Drishyam 3 box office Day 1: Mohanlal's film is Mollywood's 2nd biggest opener

Mohanlal's Drishyam 3 opened strongly in theatres on May 21 with Rs 43.37 crore worldwide. The Jeethu Joseph-directed thriller is now the second-biggest opener in Malayalam cinema after L2: Empuraan.

In Short

• Drishyam 3 released on May 21, coinciding with Mohanlal's 66th birthday
• It earned Rs 15.85 crore nett in India on opening day
• Overseas markets contributed Rs 25 crore, lifting the global opening strongly

Mohanlal-starrer Drishyam 3, directed by Jeethu Joseph, opened strongly at the box office, and became the second-biggest opener in Malayalam cinema, after releasing in cinemas on May 21, which also marked the actor's 66th birthday. The film, one of the most anticipated Indian releases of the year, brings back Mohanlal as Georgekutty, with Meena, Ansiba Hassan and Esther Anil reprising their roles as Rani George, Anju George and Anumol George.

Despite receiving mixed reviews from audiences and critics, the crime thriller recorded a robust first-day collection. According to entertainment tracking portal Sacnilk, Drishyam 3 earned Rs 15.85 crore nett (gross minus taxes) and Rs 18.37 crore gross in India on its opening day. It also grossed Rs 25 crore overseas, taking its worldwide day-one total to Rs 43.37 crore.

The opening has made Drishyam 3 the second-biggest opener in the history of Malayalam cinema. It has gone past Patriot, the Mammootty and Mohanlal-starrer espionage thriller directed by Mahesh Narayanan, which released on May 1 and had collected Rs 28.10 crore gross worldwide on its first day.

The top opening-day record in Malayalam cinema continues to belong to Mohanlal again with L2: Empuraan. The Prithviraj Sukumaran directorial, recorded a worldwide opening of Rs 67 crore on its first day in 2025.

The Drishyam franchise began with the release of the first film in 2013. It went on to become a major box office success and was the highest-grossing Malayalam film at the time. The film was later remade in several languages, including Hindi, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil, and also internationally in Sinhalese and Chinese. Drishyam 2 was released directly on Amazon Prime Video in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic and received positive reviews. It was also remade in Kannada, Telugu and Hindi.

Like the first two films, Drishyam 3 has been directed by Jeethu Joseph and produced by Antony Perumbavoor under the Aashirvad Cinemas banner.

With a worldwide opening of Rs 43.37 crore, the third film has begun its theatrical run on a strong note.

- Ends