Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai

Mumbai, Oct 1: Advance bookings for Ajay Devgn-starrer Drishyam 3: The Conclusion have gathered significant momentum ahead of its theatrical release on Friday, with the film crossing 2.4 lakh ticket sales across the two major national chains, PVR INOX and Cinepolis.

According to trade reports, the film had sold around 2.35 lakh tickets across the national chains before the latest surge, with sales continuing to accelerate. The advance response has been particularly strong in Maharashtra, Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru, markets where the Drishyam franchise has traditionally performed well.

Moviemax, a smaller national chain with a strong presence in urban Maharashtra, has also recorded more than 13,000 ticket sales. The figure has already placed the film among the chain's top advance-booking performers and could rise further before the end of the day.

The strong advance sales have pushed up expectations for the film's opening day. Earlier trade estimates had placed the first-day advance at more than Rs 20 crore nett, with projections of around Rs 22-23 crore nett before the final surge. However, newer reports indicate that the film's overall advance bookings have moved substantially higher, with more than 11 lakh tickets reportedly sold across 36,000 shows and advance collections of around Rs 19.71 crore in one reported tally.

Other trade reports have put the opening-day advance collections even higher, while analysts are tracking the film for an opening in the Rs 40-50 crore range. These are advance-booking estimates and not the film's actual first-day box-office collection.

The film is scheduled to release on October 2 and will bring back Ajay Devgn as Vijay Salgaonkar, along with Tabu, Shriya Saran and Ishita Dutta. Jaideep Ahlawat and Prakash Raj are among the new additions to the cast.

Drishyam 3: The Conclusion is also set for a wide international release. Reports describe it as the widest overseas release of an Ajay Devgn film, with the movie scheduled to reach audiences in 60 countries across around 1,300 screens.

The overseas advance response has also been described as strong, raising expectations that the film could become one of Ajay Devgn's biggest international performers. The actual overseas opening, however, will depend on ticket sales after the film's release.

The Hindi film is the third instalment in the Drishyam franchise and follows the success of Drishyam 2. With advance bookings continuing to accelerate across key Indian markets, the film is heading into its release with high trade expectations.