Mohanlal’s 'Drishyam 3' Closes Pre-Release Sales At ₹350 Crores: Reports
This number was reportedly declared by Ranjith, who had produced Mohanlal’s recent blockbuster 'Thudarum'
In what could set a record of sorts, Mohanlal’s upcoming film Drishyam 3 has reportedly closed its pre-release distribution sales at a whopping cost of ₹350 crore. This is already ₹50 crore more than the total collection of Kalyani Priyadarshan’s Lokah Chapter One: Chandra, which is the highest-grossing Malayalam film of all time. And for Drishyam 3 to achieve this sum, even as it's completing the final days of the film’s shoot, is unprecedented in the box office history of Kerala.
This sum was disclosed by producer M.Ranjith of Rejaputhra Visual Arts on the sidelines of a recent literature festival in Kerala. He had most recently produced Mohanlal’s blockbuster Thudarum. There were also other reports that stated that Panorama Studios had acquired the worldwide digital and theatrical rights of the third part in the trilogy. This means that Aashirvad Productions, for the first time, will not be distributing the film in their home state.
This is the sixth film that Mohanlal is shooting for with Jeethu Joseph. Apart from the Drishyam franchise, he has also done 12th Man (2022), Neru (2023) and a large portion of the incomplete film Raam. Mohanlal was just in the news for winning the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his contribution to Indian cinema.
In July, director Jeethu Joseph stated that he had stalled the shoot of the Hindi version of Drishyam 3, saying that work on the remake should not begin before the shoot of the Malayalam version. Additional production details of the Hindi version, however, were not revealed. He said that there were initial talks of both versions getting shot simultaneously, but the plans were later dropped once Jeethu hinted that such a move would be dealt with legally. He had also recently stated that he was under a lot of pressure to complete the writing of the third instalment and that he was waking up at 3.30 AM daily to finish it. At a college event, he had even confirmed that he had finally cracked the climax of the film.