Drishyam 3 finally opened in theatres worldwide on May 21 and quickly went viral. Georgekutty returns for the first time this year. The Malayalam thriller by Jeethu Joseph, starring Mohanlal, the iconic film from the original Malayalam thriller, also had openings among many other busy movies in packed cinemas.
The record number of reservations had never been reported; first-day sales in India set an impressive record for India as well. Everyone is buzzing, and soon ticket sales in cities or towns began to take centre stage. Ticket prices have been almost entirely driven by word-of-mouth marketing.
Now it is surprising because despite the blockbuster-status hype, Drishyam 3 has also reached the stratosphere, and we're still often seeing affordable prices across the board. In terms of ticketing in Kochi, the cheapest known standard seating ticket purchase (via online ticketing portals and the theatre listing), the lowest known price in Kochi, according to opening day and seats for selected theatres for Drishyam 3, was approximately Rs 120 (per theatre seat).
In Mumbai & Delhi NCR, the most affordable entry-level tickets vary by showtime or theatre for early shows in Mumbai & Delhi NCR and are priced around Rs 149.
Premium multiplex formats are significantly more expensive, by contrast. That is just a fraction of the typical fare for luxury recliner seats, IMAX screens, and premium formats available in Kochi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Delhi from Rs 500 up to Rs 750 a ticket.
Before the opening weekend, the film had already hit record sets in forward booking. The film was also claimed to be one of the fastest-grossing ever Malayalam films with almost ₹28–30 crore pre-sales worldwide. As for the film’s largest market, industry insiders had said Kerala was unusually high, and even this happened early in the mornings.
The movie falls under the 3rd episode of the highly acclaimed Drishyam series, which is based on Georgekutty and his family as they live through the recent tragedies involving Drishyam and Drishyam 2. Members of the film’s cast include Meena, Ansiba Hassan, Esther Anil, Siddique, Murali Gopy, and Asha Sarath in former roles.
That starts with the worldwide release of the film that is coming up against a gargantuan opening-day bundle of ₹35 crore to ₹40 crore, trade analysts say. Globally, it is heading towards a major opening-day bundle. The suspense thriller has gained a lot of buzz on social media as fans rush to avoid any last-minute spoilers and book tickets that are good for the first weekend.
Drishyam 3, by contrast, might be a whole lot more pricey; it can vary widely by city, theatre chain, format, and times of day. Open-stage morning shows and single-screen theatres are the cheapest, but surge pricing is affecting evening and weekend multiplex shows as demand expands.
Traditional theatres in Kochi are priced roughly around Rs 120-250 for seats, higher for multiplex chains. Entry-level tickets currently go for Rs 149 in Mumbai and Delhi NCR; however, the premium weekend shows offered at some of the best multiplexes are already approaching maximum sales.
The film was originally seen and introduced for its first release in Malayalam (as well as Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada) in order to reach a wider range of Indian consumers and thus be more widely distributed across Kerala and beyond. Drishyam 3, with word of mouth and the immense success of the franchise, will dominate the weekend box office.
