Top grossing “Cheburashka”
According to data from the Unified Federal Automated Information System (UAIS) on Film Screenings in Movie Theaters, released on January 1, Cheburashka, collected It has already become the highest-grossing domestic film in the history of Russian distribution, worth more than 3.09 billion rubles.
The family comedy surpassed the previous record holder in terms of the box office – the film “Serf” by Klim Shipenko, which in 2019 collected 3.082 billion rubles at the box office. At the same time, the budget of Kholop, according to UAIS, amounted to 160 million rubles, and the creators spent 850 million rubles on the production of Cheburashka.
“We are very pleased that Cheburashka and all the New Year’s films allow the cinemas to make money and allow the audience to believe in the repertoire and enjoy going to the cinema. It’s too early to talk about restoration (cinema distribution – socialbites.ca), but the industry is making every effort to do it with the support of the state, ”says Eduard Iloyan, Executive Producer of Yellow, Black and White. the movie told TASS.
“Cheburashka” director Dmitry Dyachenko told “socialbites.ca” that the audience should “wait” for the sequel. He explained that the total box office revenues of the tape were calculated not only for the New Year’s holiday, but also for the days after December 23, when the limited screening of the film began.
“Cheburashka” is a family comedy aimed at audiences over the age of six. The picture tells about the adventures of Cheburashka in a small seaside town, where he came from a distant orange country. The main roles in the film were played by Sergei Garmash, Elena Yakovleva, Polina Maksimova, Fedor Dobronravov and Sergei Lavygin. And Cheburashka was voiced by actress Olga Kuzmina.
unrivaled
A day ago, State Duma deputy Anton Gorelkin announced on the Telegram channel that a bill on the mandatory licensing of foreign films for Russian film distribution is being discussed.
“I think it’s time this year to put an end to the debate about the mandatory licensing mechanism of Western movies. According to my information, a bill is being discussed that would allow cinemas to legally screen new foreign films – and not engage in the semi-legal “pre-show service” practice, he wrote.
According to him, this will allow the third part of Avatar to compete for the box office in Russia. The deputy recalled that the first part of “Avatar” collected 3.5 billion rubles at the local box office and held this record for 13 years, but since he had no rivals, “Cheburashka” could soon take the lead from the film directed by James Cameron.
In an interview with socialbites.ca, Anatoly Semyonov, head of the working group on the development of a bill on compulsory licensing of Western films and deputy to Dmitry Kuznetsov, complained that the initiative has many opponents.
“Gorelkin talks about our project, which Kuznetsov submitted to the State Duma (August 19, 2022. – socialbites.ca). He talks about what’s delayed, it’s time. It is somehow inappropriate to hold the entire population of the Russian Federation in the status of criminals or violators of any other law, since everything is no longer so good and they use pirated movies and programs. At the same time, no one will think about their interests, ”said Semenov.
According to him, the initiative of the State Duma is blocked by “a series of lobbyists”. Among these, he listed the cinemas indirectly owned by foreigners. According to Semyonov, NATO “fears of spoiling relations with their states”. In addition, the head of the working group for the development of the bill directed some Russian manufacturers to those who opposed the bill.
“They don’t want there to be any legal competition with their films. Any industry lobbyist will be happy to have fewer competitors. Excuse me, when you come and there is only Cheburashka in the cinema, there is no one else, then of course Cheburashka gets good wages, ”Semenov explained.
He believes that decision makers are “only listening to industry lobbyists”, “not interested” in “banal guarantees of constitutional access to cultural values” for the country’s population.
“The producers are listening. “Is it okay if we don’t legalize foreign cinema?” he is asked. The producers say: “Of course it’s good! go bad We’ll show Cheburashka to everyone. And now the question arises, why not watch the best achievements of foreign cinema, ”semenov was indignant.
“There are no such fees out of despair”
Vitaly Shlyappo, producer and screenwriter of Cheburashka, told Podyom that the success of the tape is not connected with the departure of foreign films from Russian cinemas.
“Out of desperation, such fees do not happen. Out of desperation, the film collects well in the first days, and then the prices inevitably drop. We see from the numbers that people who have never been to the movies come by trusting the opinions of their acquaintances, those they read on the internet,” he said.
According to him, the creators of Cheburashka did not expect such success at the box office. He believes the huge box office revenues are due to the fact that the film’s writers “managed to reach the widest possible audience” – “adults understand it on their own level and children understand it on theirs”.