Tamil actor Suriya's "Karuppu" has opened to strong numbers at the domestic and worldwide box office. The RJ Balaji fantasy action entertainer netted around Rs 15.50 crore, with a gross of nearly Rs 17.93 crore. Combined with the Rs 4 crore from overseas screens, its worldwide total now stands at Rs 21.93 crore, as per figures tracked by box office portal Sacnilk.
However, when we compare it to Suriya's recent big release, "Karuppu" falls short of the opening numbers of "Retro" and "Kanguva".
"Kanguva" had set an all-time opening record of Rs 24 crore, while "Retro" pulled off around Rs 19.25 crore on opening day. However, it fared better than his 2022 thriller "Etharkkum Thunindhavan", which collected Rs 14 crore on release day.
Perhaps this new movie, which also features Trisha Krishnan and Malayalam actors Indrans, Anagha Ravi, Swasika, and Aju Varghese, would've opened with higher numbers had the makers released it without any last-minute hurdles on Thursday itself. According to some, the Thursday show cancellations have severely impacted the film's opening day numbers — the inability to reach the "Kanguva" and "Retro" numbers was likely a direct consequence of the massive, high-stakes financial deadlock that threw its release into chaos.
"Karuppu" was officially scheduled to premiere on Thursday, May 14, 2026. However, due to a reported Rs 50 crore debt dispute involving the production house, the digital theatre keys (KDMs) were entirely withheld. What was supposed to be a massive first-day rollout ended up being a total theatrical shutdown across Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Early morning 9 AM shows, matinees, and eventually even evening/night shows had to be entirely scrubbed.
This has also led some audiences to either postpone watching the movie or completely drop it, owing to the annoyance and frustration caused by the widespread public confusion regarding whether the movie was playing at all. Before the financial deadlock occurred, audience anticipation for the RJ Balaji directorial was incredibly high. As per reports, the movie had amassed roughly Rs 7.9 crore to Rs 11.33 crore in gross from bookings (including blocked seats) for its original release day. Because the Thursday shows were pulled from the schedule, ticketing platforms like BookMyShow and local theatre counters had to initiate mass automatic ticket refunds. This completely wiped out its initial massive pre-sales cushion.
Following personal interventions by Suriya to clear the financial hurdles, the deadlock was resolved late Thursday night. The movie officially reset its Day 1 and began screening on Friday, May 15. Had it been released on Thursday, the film could've earned the critical compounding revenue of a true two-day opening window (Thursday + Friday).
That said, the film's strong Friday evening occupancy indicates that the underlying fan demand remains very healthy.
