L2 Empuraan Worldwide Box Office Milestone: Mohanlal's movie BEATS previous Mollywood week 1 record by historic Rs 140 crore

The recent blockbuster L2: Empuraan has created history at the box office, emerging as the highest first-week grosser in Malayalam cinema. Starring Mohanlal and directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran, this Lucifer sequel grossed an unprecedented ₹140 crore from the Malayalam version alone in its first seven days. This makes L2: Empuraan the biggest first-week Malayalam grosser ever by a landslide, surpassing the previous record held by Prithviraj Sukumaran's survival thriller Aadujeevitham. 

Director Prithviraj Sukumaran’s unique feat

Interestingly, the previous record-holder, Aadujeevitham, is Prithviraj Sukumaran in the lead role. The survival drama, also known as The Goat Life, was written, directed, and co-produced by Blessy. Based on the real-life story of Najeeb, a Malayali immigrant laborer in the Persian Gulf, the film adapted Benyamin's 2008 best-selling novel. Upon release, the film met with critical acclaim from the Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and Overseas critics as well as movie lovers. 

However, Aadujeevitham faced lots of hurdles, including an initial ban in Gulf countries except for the UAE. But it later found success, grossing just under ₹90 crore in its first week. Now, Prithviraj has outdone himself not only as an actor but as a director too, by delivering L2: Empuraan, a film that has rewritten Kerala's box office records. Surprisingly, Empuraan also has its fair share of hurdles as it was embroiled into a controversy upon release and had to undergo re-censoring. 

The mass appeal that helped Empuraan

Aadujeevitham saw nearly half of its earnings coming from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, the rest of India, and parts of the Middle East. Though the film got applause for Prithviraj's dedication and the way he lost oodles of weight to portray the lone survivor role, The Goat Life struggled to reach the ₹100 crore mark globally. But as a director, Prithviraj has dominated the box office, with L2: Empuraan collecting ₹140 crore through its Malayalam version alone, more than Aadujeevitham’s total first-week earnings.

In contrast to Aadujeevitham, L2: Empuraan has performed exceptionally well in Kerala, with the collection nearing ₹71 crores, proving the growing box office strength of Malayalam cinema on its home turf. While Aadujeevitham was a critically acclaimed survival drama catering to only a particular niche audience, L2: Empuraan has capitalized on mass factors like high-octane action, large-scale storytelling and dramatic approach. 

On a closing note, it looks like L2: Empuraan is anticipated to cross ₹200 crore gross from the Malayalam version alone, setting another major record, in case if the upcoming releases don't hinder its momentum.

ALSO READ: L2 Empuraan Updated Week 1 Worldwide Box Office: Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran’s movie grosses staggering Rs 228.75 crore in just 7 days