Development No official announcement of a follow-up was made for
Lucifer (2019), despite its open ending. The possibility of a continuation was confirmed by writer
Murali Gopy in an interview in April 2019, shortly after the release of
Lucifer. He clarified that "
Lucifer is definitely designed as a franchise, and it is very evident from its structure and progression." The official announcement of a second film and its title took place during a press conference on 18 June 2019. Shedding light on the meaning of the title,
Prithviraj Sukumaran said that "Empuraan" signifies "someone more than a king, but less than a god", with a more literal translation being "overlord". Murali revealed that
Lucifer was conceived as a series right from its inception. The success of the first film gave them confidence to proceed with
L2: Empuraan, said Prithviraj. Production was planned to commence in the second half of 2020. In September 2019, Prithviraj further revealed that
L2: Empuraan is part of a three-film series. The trilogy was originally envisioned as a three-season web series, the first season was transformed into the film
Lucifer, while the second and third seasons were adapted for the subsequent instalments. Prithviraj clarified that
L2: Empuraan does not continue the story of
Lucifer but rather delves into the events that occurred before and after it, and that they have built "a franchise structure that visits every aspect of the story". Murali hinted that
L2: Empuraan would unveil more layers of the narrative. The onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 led to the postponement of the production. In September 2020, Murali presented a comprehensive design brief of
L2: Empuraan to Prithviraj, who stated that it assisted him in visualising an edited and colour-corrected version of the film. Pre-production, that was set to begin in 2021, was again delayed due to the pandemic. In the meantime, Prithviraj directed another film,
Bro Daddy (2022), in the third quarter of 2021. In October 2021, Prithviraj disclosed that they were still waiting for the pandemic situation to subside, as they could not proceed with
location scouting under that situation and expressed hope to start filming by mid-2022. In 2022, Murali revealed plans to "scale up the magnitude and scope" of
L2: Empuraan. He was in the process of writing the screenplay in May 2022, which he completed that month. In July, Prithviraj announced the completion of
L2: Empuraan final script and informed lead actor
Mohanlal and producer
Antony Perumbavoor. The following month, the team officially announced through social media that they had entered the pre-production phase, "we are starting the actual process of making the film from today (17 August 2022)", Prithviraj described the film as a "commercial entertainer". In September 2023, the
Tamil film production company
Lyca Productions announced their involvement in the production of
L2: Empuraan, marking their debut in Malayalam cinema, along with
Aashirvad Cinemas, the producer of
Lucifer. Additionally, Prithviraj's company
Prithviraj Productions is credited for "project design". In March 2025, Sree Gokulam Movies joined the project as a co-producer, reportedly due to a financial dispute between Lyca Productions and Aashirvad Cinemas.
Casting Mohanlal reprises his role of Khureshi Ab'raam/Stephen Nedumpally. During the film's announcement, it was revealed that Prithviraj's character Zayed Masood would have more prominence in
L2: Empuraan.
Kalabhavan Shajohn, whose character Aloshy Joseph was killed off in
Lucifer, made an unannounced appearance in the trailer. Following this, he personally confirmed his presence in the film. In a December 2023 interview,
Abhimanyu Singh confirmed his role as the antagonist opposite Mohanlal. Describing his character, Singh stated, "Balraj is a really complex character. He is not just one thing. There are many layers to him."
Suraj Venjaramoodu portrays politician Sajanachandran. He revealed that he personally expressed his desire to be cast in the film while working with Prithviraj on the sets of
Driving Licence. Karthikeya Dev, who portrayed the younger version of Prithviraj's character in
Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire, was similarly cast as the younger Masood (Prithviraj).
Nikhat Khan appears as Subhadra Ben, a regal woman who owns a
haveli. Prithviraj revealed that at the time of casting, he was unaware she was
Aamir Khan's sister and selected her based solely on her audition. Sukant Goel plays the role of Balraj's brothet Munna, who is an accomplice to Balraj in his crimes and political career. British-Romanian actress
Andrea Tivadar joined the cast as Michele Menuhin, an
SAS operative working for
MI6 and tasked with pursuing Ab'raam. British actor
Jerome Flynn was cast as Boris Oliver, a significant figure in Ab'raam's journey. French actor
Eriq Ebouaney plays Kabuga, a character with negative shades. Prithviraj revealed that several foreign actors they had initially considered were unable to sign due to the
2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, "we were in limbo for a while and kept waiting, but the strike just would not end and we had to move on". As a result, the team restarted the casting process with non-
SAG-AFTRA actors. There were speculations about American actor
Rick Yune's involvement, but his casting remained undisclosed until the film's release. Yune portrays Shenlong Shen, the leader of the Shen Triad nexus, a rival syndicate to Khureshi's Indo-Arab nexus. Also, several other actors such as
Aamir Khan and
Ma Dong-seok were rumored to play the role until the release. Similarly,
Pranav Mohanlal's role was kept under wraps, only revealed through a flashback scene in which he plays a young Stephen. The other new additions include
Manikuttan,
Kishore,
Satyajit Sharma, Oziel Jivani, Aishwarya Ojha, Nayan Bhatt,
Shubhangi Latkar, and Behzaad Khan.
Principal photography was originally scheduled to commence on 15 August, however, it was postponed after Prithviraj sustained an injury on the sets of
Vilayath Buddha. Production eventually began with a customary
muhurtam shot on 5 October in
Faridabad on the outskirts of Delhi and
Haryana. It primarily featured foreign actors and
extras. Filming was moved to
Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, following a day of shooting in
Faridabad. Filming also took place in
Leh,
Ladakh. The first schedule was completed in Ladakh on 28 October. The crew began location scouting in the
United Kingdom in November 2023. The location scouting process for the entire film spanned 18 months. The second schedule started in the UK in January 2024 and concluded later that month. In late February, filming shifted to the United States, covering various locations including New York,
New Mexico,
Louisiana,
San Francisco, and
Atlanta. This schedule featured the principal cast members, Mohanlal, Tovino, Prithviraj, and Indrajith, and continued until the second week of March. By this time, approximately 20 percent of the film had been completed. The subsequent phase of production began in April on specially constructed sets in
Chennai, concluding within the same month. This phase involved Mohanlal, Tovino, Warrier, and Saniya. By May, the production had moved to
Thiruvananthapuram, where scenes were filmed at two schools with the participation of 2,000 extras, along with cast members Warrier, Suraj, Saikumar, Baiju, and Nandu. In June, the crew filmed in
Kochi, before relocating to
Gujarat by mid-June for the longest schedule of the production. The Gujarat schedule included scenes depicting Zayed's younger years, with Mohanlal joining the shoot. Filming took place at a palace and on custom-built sets, covering both past and present timelines. However,
heavy downpour caused delays. Production resumed in
Rajkot during the fourth week of September. The team shifted to
Hyderabad in October for a brief schedule, reportedly at
Ramoji Film City. Later in October, the production team returned to
Thiruvananthapuram. Filming was held at
Kanakakkunnu Palace,
The Leela Kovalam,
Adimalathura Beach, and
Pallippuram. This phase concluded within the same month. Additional scenes were shot in places such as
Thammanam,
Kuttikkanam, and
Vandiperiyar during October. In November, the production moved to the
United Arab Emirates and
Mumbai before returning to Kerala to film in
Ernakulam,
Chalakudy, and
Palakkad. Filming was
wrapped on 1 December 2024, on the banks of the
Malampuzha Reservoir, marking the conclusion of 14 months of production.
L2: Empuraan was completed in 145 days, which was 28 days shorter than the originally planned schedule.
Empuraan was filmed using the
anamorphic format with a 2.8:1
aspect ratio, ensuring visual consistency with the first film. Prithviraj confirmed the third instalment will follow the same approach. He mostly utilised
practical effects for the action sequences. The fight sequences were choreographed by
Stunt Silva.
Suresh Balaje and George Pius of Wide Angle Creations served as the film's
line producers. == Music ==