'DC' delivers historic opening weekend for Lokesh Kanagaraj, second-highest opening for Arun Matheshwaran | Box Office Report
The Tamil version led revenue contributions at 65.6%, followed by a surprising 25.3% from the Telugu version, leveraging Lokesh's existing fanbase in Telugu-speaking regions and Arun Matheshwaran's action style
"DC" (Tamil) has delivered an impressive opening weekend at the box office, turning what could have been a risky debut into a major commercial success for filmmaker-turned-actor Lokesh Kanagaraj. It also marks the second-highest opening for director Arun Matheshwaran after "Captain Miller". On Day
"DC" (Tamil) has delivered an impressive opening weekend at the box office, turning what could have been a risky debut into a major commercial success for filmmaker-turned-actor Lokesh Kanagaraj. It also marks the second-highest opening for director Arun Matheshwaran after "Captain Miller". On Day
"DC" (Tamil) has delivered an impressive opening weekend at the box office, turning what could have been a risky debut into a major commercial success for filmmaker-turned-actor Lokesh Kanagaraj. It also marks the second-highest opening for director Arun Matheshwaran after "Captain Miller". On Day
"DC" (Tamil) has delivered an impressive opening weekend at the box office, turning what could have been a risky debut into a major commercial success for filmmaker-turned-actor Lokesh Kanagaraj. It also marks the second-highest opening for director Arun Matheshwaran after "Captain Miller".
On Day 3, the film collected a net ₹9.55 crore in India from 4,639 shows. This took its total India gross collection to ₹24.11 crore, while its India net collection reached ₹20.95 crore. The film also performed strongly overseas, earning ₹2.25 crore on Day 3 and taking its total overseas gross to ₹7.75 crore. As a result, *DC* has reached a worldwide gross of ₹31.86 crore in just three days.
The Day 3 figure is particularly significant because it represents a 36.4% increase over Saturday's ₹7 crore net collection. The film had opened with a relatively modest ₹4.10 crore net on Friday, before rising to ₹6.70 crore on Saturday and then ₹9.55 crore on Sunday. This steady growth suggests that positive word of mouth played a major role in bringing audiences back to theatres.
Of the total net, the majority of the revenue contribution came from the Tamil version, followed by, surprisingly, the Telugu version, and the Hindi version. The Tamil version contributed 65.6% (₹13.75 crore), the Telugu version 25.3% (₹5.30 crore), and the Hindi version 6.1% (₹1.30 crore).
This seems to demonstrate the fact that aside from the strong word-of-mouth, the film has also leveraged Lokesh's established Telugu fanbase owing to his blockbuster directorial career so far and filmmaker Arun Matheshwaran's brand of unapologetically violent action filmmaking.
For Lokesh Kanagaraj, who is making his debut as a lead actor, the ₹31.86 crore worldwide opening weekend is an exceptional achievement. The film was reportedly made on a budget of around ₹25 crore, meaning its worldwide theatrical gross has already crossed its production cost within three days. That gives the film a strong financial start and significantly reduces the risk surrounding Kanagaraj's reported high remuneration.
Kanagaraj's reputation as the director behind blockbusters such as "Kaithi", "Vikram" and "Leo" has also helped give the film strong regional appeal. Its performance in Telugu-speaking states has been especially notable, with the film reportedly earning ₹2.75 crore gross in those markets on Sunday alone.
It must be noted that "Captain Miller" had the star power of Dhanush to give Matheshwaran his highest 3-day opening weekend. For "DC", Kanagaraj's screen presence has emerged as one of the film's biggest strengths, aside from Wamiqa Gabbi's competent performance and Anirudh's standout soundtrack.
More importantly, "DC" appears to have succeeded as a genuine commercial film rather than simply benefiting from the novelty of a director becoming an actor. The film has emerged as the sixth-biggest Tamil opener of 2026, putting it ahead of several established second-tier stars.
Ultimately, "DC" is more than a successful debut. Based purely on its opening numbers, it stands as one of the most commercially impressive lead-acting debuts by a filmmaker in Tamil cinema.