Mission Possible: How Hollywood blockbusters returned to Russian cinemas

Alexander Dybin, St. Petersburg

Thus, a large cinema from St. Petersburg "Giant Park" announced the screening of a number of Hollywood films. At the same time, the website of the cinema center notes that they only rent the hall for a third-party organization, which will show the movie. However, tickets can only be purchased at the box office.

“Our friends have prepared a wonderful surprise for you! Cinema Party with the highly anticipated Top Gun Maverick! - says the announcement on the site - this advertising message was compiled and posted by the organizers of the event, renting the halls of the cinema.

In addition, the Kinomax cinema chain announced screenings in the Disney film Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness.

As the head of one of the cinemas told Novye Izvestia, the difficult financial situation of the cinemas forced them to go to the screening of sanctioned films. Since March, when Hollywood studios withdrew from the country and refused to roll their blockbusters, cinema networks have plummeted in revenue. The gaps in the schedule began to be filled with Russian cinema, retrospectives, Asian and Latin American films. But they do not collect such a box office as Hollywood.

“This is a forced measure, either to take risks, or minus 60% of the proceeds, but you have to pay taxes, rent, wages,” says the interlocutor of Novye Izvestia, “these films can be called trophies. From a Hollywood point of view, it will not be entirely legal, but the quality of the picture and dubbing is good. There are risks, but the choice is simple: shut down or take risks”.

The interlocutor declined to name who exactly translates and dubs Western films and prepares copies for showing in cinemas, but specified that there are already several players in this spontaneous market.

“Not so long ago, content sellers appeared, all communication with them goes through telegrams, no contracts”, - the source said.

Previously, Novye Izvestiya studied in detail the problem of film distribution and the film market as a whole. Many in the industry agreed that cinemas were taking the brunt of the financial blow. But only the authorities of Moscow announced the centralized support of cinema networks. No action was proposed at the federal level, although movie theaters asked for help with taxes, rent and utilities. At the same time, chains have been reducing the number of screens since April, and if the situation with revenue does not improve, they predict bankruptcies and the closure of cinemas.

“In this situation, compulsory licensing of Hollywood films could be a way out, when someone could obtain licenses for the distribution of copies in Russia and not have problems with the law”, - the source said, “while from the point of view of the copyright holder, this, of course, can be regarded as piracy".

It should be noted that against the backdrop of sanctions and the refusal of not only film studios, but also IT companies to work in Russia, calls are increasingly being made in the country to remove all blocking from sites that distribute pirated content and return to the situation 10-15 years ago, when the Internet you could download any movie or any program.