KOCHI: The Malayalam film industry, which has been struggling with a high number of box office failures, has finally witnessed a major success with the release of the survival thriller 2018, directed by Jude Anthany Joseph.
The film, which is based on the 2018 Kerala floods, surpassed the Rs 90 crore mark on its 11th day of release and is expected to cross the Rs 100-crore mark within the next two days, according to industry officials.
2018 was released worldwide on May 5 and has garnered tremendous success since then. Once it achieves the coveted Rs 100 crore milestone, it will become the third Malayalam film to enter the prestigious Rs 100- crore club, alongside Pulimurugan (2016) and Lucifer (2019). Liberty Basheer, a theatre owner and advisory board member of the Film Exhibitors Federation, mentioned that the other two films took around 25 days to achieve this feat.
“Pulimurugan and Lucifer took approximately 25 days to join the club, whereas 2018 is accomplishing it within two weeks. However, this difference can be attributed to the larger number of theatres that have screened 2018 compared to the other two films,” he added. The film has been shown in over 300 theatres across the state.
Basheer further highlighted that 2018 has attracted the largest crowd in recent times. “The movie has become the biggest hit of 2023, drawing the largest audiences to theatres in the past two years,” he said. He also mentioned that only two other movies, Malikappuram and Romancham, have achieved success this year so far.
Previously, the film had already set a record in Mollywood history by collecting approximately Rs 5.18 crore on its ninth day of release. Starring Tovino Thomas, Kunchacko Boban, Asif Ali, Aparna Balamurali, Tanvi Ram, Lal, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Indrans, and many other talented artists, ‘2018’ was produced by Venu Kunnappilly, Anto Joseph, and C K Padmakumar under the banners of Kavya Films and P K Prime Productions.
Pulimurugan
Rs 100 crore in 30 days
Total box office collection:
Rs 152 crore
Lucifer
Rs 100 crore in 25 days
Total box office collection:
Rs 127 crore