The much-anticipated thriller ““Salaar: Part 1: CeaseFire,” written and directed by Prashanth Neel and starring Prabhas, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Jagapathi Babu, and Shruti Haasan in pivotal roles, hit theatres on Friday. Reports suggest that the film has earned overwhelming responses across South India, leading to its highest-ever opening, crossing the Rs 100 crore mark.

What benefited the movie was its advance booking, which reached about Rs. 48.4 crore. When the movie was released, a similar scenario echoed in theatres too, facilitating a Rs. 70 crore collection in the Telugu-speaking states, i.e., Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. As per a report published on the trade website Sacnilk, the average occupancy in the AP-TG market for Salaar is 90 percent.

As per the latest figures reported by film industry tracker What The Fuss, as of 3:45 PM, the movie had gathered Rs. 3.36 crore by the end of the first day in Kerala. In Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, 325,000 tickets and 100,000 tickets have been sold respectively. Hombale Films, the production house behind the mega-budget film, has formally announced on Thursday that a total of 30.25 lakh tickets have been sold for the first day. These figures exclude national multiplex chains (PVR, Inox, and Cinepolis).

THE MASS IS HERE 🔥💥#Salaar Advance tickets booked (Approx.) in India as of 11:59 PM on 20-Dec-2023 for the first day (22-Dec-2023), excluding National Chain Multiplexes (PVR, INOX, Cinepolis):

•Andhra Pradesh: 13.25 Lakhs
•Nizam (Telangana): 6 Lakhs
•North India: 5.25… pic.twitter.com/HnduKzoatZ

— Hombale Films (@hombalefilms) December 21, 2023

“Booking for additional screens will open shortly,” the production house said on Twitter.

“The Salaar team is planning to hurt the multiplex chains—PVR-Inox and Miraj—where it hurts the most. The makers have withdrawn the release of Salaar from the multiplex chains in the South Indian markets. They won”t be releasing Salaar in any of their properties in the South Market,” Bollywood Hungama quoted a source as saying.

@BoxOfficeIndia, an X account dedicated to tracking India’s movie industry collections, declared that Salaar has made history by selling over 3 million tickets ahead of its release. “It’s set to have a huge opening all over India and worldwide tomorrow with an opening prediction of 175 crore,” the post read.

In the Hindi-speaking states, Salaar sold over 22,000 tickets as of the morning show, with an estimated collection of over ₹5 crore. The movie is also making its mark in Malayalam-speaking states, where it is projected to collect Rs. 2.21 crore.

The movie created ripples in the US market too, with over Rs 15 crore gross via advance booking.