Jeethu Joseph’s Drishyam 3 started its theatrical run with a powerful opening as Mohanlal starrer surpassed major Malayalam releases and created new box office records on day one.
Published: May 22, 2026 9:17 AM IST
Mohanlal’s much-awaited crime thriller Drishyam 3 has started its theatrical journey on a powerful note by recording one of the biggest openings in Malayalam cinema history. Released on May 21, which also marked Laletta’s 66th birthday, the film witnessed huge crowds across theatres in India and overseas markets. Directed by Jeethu Joseph, the thriller brought back Georgekutty and his family once again creating massive excitement among fans. Despite receiving mixed reviews from a section of audiences the film managed to pull impressive collections worldwide and has already crossed several major Malayalam releases on its opening day.
Drishyam 3 beats Thudarum with record-breaking opening
Drishyam 3 has officially shattered records by grossing Rs 43.37 crore worldwide on its opening day, comfortably overtaking Thudarum, which debuted with just over Rs 10 crore worldwide in 2025. As per Sacnilk, the thriller earned Rs 15.85 crore nett in India while its India gross collection stood at Rs 18.37 crore. Overseas markets contributed another Rs 25 crore, helping the film deliver one of the biggest global openings in Malayalam cinema history.
The film also dominated the domestic market by pulling in Rs 10.56 crore net in India nearly doubling the Rs 5.45 crore net opening collected by Thudarum. Backed by a historic advance booking window that crossed over one million ticket sales on BookMyShow the thriller has now rewritten Malayalam box office history.
With these numbers Drishyam 3 has officially become the second-biggest opener in Malayalam cinema after Mohanlal’s own L2 Empuraan held by Prithviraj Sukumaran which had earned Rs 67 crore worldwide on day one earlier in 2025.
Strong occupancy helps the film dominate theatres
The Malayalam version of Drishyam 3 recorded excellent theatre occupancy on its opening day. Overall occupancy stood at 66.79 percent with night shows performing the strongest at 72.92 percent. Evening occupancy touched 71 percent while afternoon shows recorded 63.83 percent. Morning occupancy remained solid at 59.42 percent showing strong audience interest throughout the day.
Mohanlal returns as Georgekutty after years
The film marks the return of Mohanlal as Georgekutty alongside Meena, Ansiba Hassan and Esther Anil who reprise their roles as Rani George Anju George and Anumol George. The emotional thriller continues the story of the family after the events of Drishyam and Drishyam 2.
The Drishyam franchise first began in 2013 and quickly became one of Malayalam cinema’s biggest success stories. The original film was later remade in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Sinhalese and Chinese languages. Drishyam 2 released directly on Prime Video in 2021 during the pandemic and received massive appreciation from audiences and critics.
Like the previous films Drishyam 3 has also been directed by Jeethu Joseph and produced by Antony Perumbavoor under the Aashirvad Cinemas banner. The film is now expected to witness strong weekend growth especially in Kerala and overseas territories where advance bookings remain impressive.
