Kanchana 3 edges past Rs 100 cr at worldwide box office; Madhuraraja becomes Mammootty's career-best grosser

Raghava Lawrence’s  _Kanchana 3_  has sailed past the Rs 100 crore mark in worldwide theatrical receipts on Sunday and emerged as a clear blockbuster. The film, which released on 19 April, marks the second century grosser for Lawrence after the super-hit Kanchana 2, the previous instalment in the Muni franchise. [caption id=“attachment_6472071” align=“alignnone” width=“821”]  Raghava Lawrence in a still from Kanchana 3. Twitter[/caption] At the end of 10 days, Kanchana 3, which is directed and co-produced by Lawrence and Sun Pictures respectively, has pulled in a fantastic cumulative total of Rs 55.7 crore at the ticket window. Despite the onslaught of box office juggernaut _Avengers: Endgame_  in Tamil Nadu, Kanchana 3 earned an estimated total of Rs 8.8 crore in its second weekend. It is currently the third biggest grosser of 2019 in Tamil Nadu after Rajinikanth-starrer _Petta_  and Thala Ajith’s  _Viswasam_ . Kanchana 3, which also stars Bigg Boss Tamil sensation Oviya and Vedhika as female leads, pulled in a good Rs 9.2 crore opening weekend gross from the Telugu states. The movie has already crossed the Rs 20 crore gross mark now and is one of the top grossing dubbed films of 2019 in Telugu states. Taking the worldwide numbers into account, Kanchana 3 secured the third biggest three-day opening of 2019, only behind such films as Petta and Viswasam.  The UAE-GCC has contributed nearly Rs 1.06 crore from 9 days of theatrical run. It also garnered the third biggest opening weekend of 2019 in Malaysia with Rs 5.35 crore. Now, Lawrence already moved on to his next project, which marks his directorial debut in Bollywood. Titled _Laaxmi Bomb_ , the film is an official Hindi remake of Lawrence’s Tamil super-hit Kanchana, the second instalment of the Muni franchise. Akshay Kumar reprises the lead role played by Lawrence and Kiara Advani has been roped in to essay the female lead. There are also reports that Amitabh Bachchan is in talks to play the role of the transgender in the film, which was originally played by Sarathkumar in the Tamil version. In Chennai city, holdover Telugu film  _Jersey_ , starring Nani and Shraddha Srinath as leads, has collected a good Rs 1.1 crore gross so far. Meanwhile, the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe tentpole, Avengers: Endgame, has taken the Chennai city and Tamil Nadu box office by storm. Besides hauling in an excellent total of Rs 3.96 crore in Chennai from the three-day opening weekend, the film has raked in Rs 20.5 crore in Tamil Nadu. The three-day Chennai city opening is the biggest of this year, besting the totals of Petta and Viswasam.  Meanwhile, Mammootty’s  _Madhuraraja_ , helmed by Pulimurugan director Vysakh, has become his career-best grosser with a worldwide total of Rs 42 crore. It has surpassed Mammootty’s Abrahaminte Santhathikal to become his top-grossing movie. The film has also become the highest grosser in rest of India, Kerala, and overseas for Mammootty in his entire career. In 17 days of theatrical run, Madhuraraja has taken home earnings of $1.822 million (Rs 12.72 crore) from overseas territories. The UAE-GCC region has contributed $1.655 million (Rs 11.5 crore) to the overseas takings of the film, which is bankrolled by Nelson Ipe Cinemas. Another holdover Malayalam blockbuster  _Lucifer_ , starring Mohanlal and directed by Prithviraj, has grossed a whopping Rs 124 crore from worldwide theatrical revenue so far. It is currently the 13th top grossing South Indian film from overseas regions with a solid $7.15 million (Rs 50.03 crore). It is the first Malayalam movie ever to vault over the Rs 50 crore mark from the foreign box office. Telugu blockbuster  _Majili,_  starring Naga Chaitanya and Samantha, has scored an estimated gross of Rs 59 crore from global ticket sales in 17 days. The film’s distributor share is pegged at Rs 33.5 crore. Since the theatrical rights were valued at Rs 22 crore, the Shiva Nirvana-directed film has become a super-hit venture for all the stakeholders involved.