Usually, it's the massive spectacle-driven films that are expected to bring in the big numbers, but in the case of the "Drishyam" franchise, the rules are being rewritten. We have come a long way since the release of Mohanlal's "Lucifer" in 2019 and the superstar's "Pulimurugan" in 2015. A Rs 100-crore gross is no longer considered a big deal — without a minimum of Rs 200 crore, what's the point? Many who follow box office figures religiously would ask.
After all, we are living in a time when films with even newcomers do these numbers. "Vaazha 2" has already demonstrated that with a Rs 250-crore worldwide gross. So, it would be embarrassing — for some fans, that is, not for those who don’t equate quality with box office numbers — when a Mohanlal or Mammootty movie doesn't at least match that, or outperform that number by a larger margin.
Cut to 2026, something remarkable is happening once again at the box office. Of course, compared to the front-loaded earnings of "L2: Empuraan", "Drishyam 3" is trailing behind, but the two films cannot be compared, because one is a globe-trotting action-heavy multi-starrer and the other a family-centric mystery where the protagonist has to rely on brains than brawn, even though Georgekutty has grown more influential in the third entry.
Besides, to its advantage, it has the pre-established hype from a franchise that spawned many remakes both in India and abroad. It's only been 9 days, and the Malayalam "Drishyam 3" has already crossed 200 crore (approx. 209.08 crore) in worldwide collections, with India gross standing at 100 crore, and overseas total at 109 crore. The domestic net total is at 86.25 crore.
As these figures tracked by Sacnilk already show, "Drishyam 3", once again helmed by director Jeethu Joseph, is doing better overseas than in its home turf. It's now the second-fastest Mohanlal film to earn 100 crore overseas after "L2: Empuraan". The former crossed 100 crore overseas in a record-breaking 4 days, whereas "Drishyam 3" hit the same milestone in 8 days.
It is, however, the third-fastest Malayalam film to hit this milestone after "Empuraan" and "Lokah".
"Drishyam 3" also reportedly benefitted from the largest pre-release overseas distribution valuation in Malayalam cinema history. It is said that the theatrical rights for North America alone were sold for an unprecedented Rs 10 Crore (6 crore for the US and 4 crore for Canada).
"Drishyam 3" proves yet again that Mohanlal is the king of international pull as far as Malayalam cinema is concerned, with already three of the top-performing overseas films under his belt — "Thudarum" being the third one, which reportedly came close to the 100 crore overseas mark; the Tharun Moorthy-directorial relied more on domestic sales, finished their theatrical run without ever hitting the 100-crore mark internationally.
