Cheburashka, Dmitry Dyachenko’s family-oriented film featuring Sergei Garmash and Olga Kuzmina, opened strongly at the Russian box office, with early numbers pointing to a crossing of the 1 billion rubles mark within just three days on screen. The Film Distributor Bulletin highlights that these figures are preliminary and unofficial, reflecting initial calculations rather than a final tallied total.
According to the publication’s early estimates, the film had earned about 961 million rubles by January 3. When pre-sales from the morning of January 4 are included, the total exceeded 1 billion rubles. The bulletin notes that the cumulative box office reached 1.038 billion rubles, a figure that includes 134.1 million rubles of revenue generated from December previews. These numbers, while impressive, are still subject to adjustment as the industry continues to compile closer-to-final counts and reconcile them with theater reporting across the distribution system.
Before Cheburashka’s performance, the fastest film to reach the billion-ruble milestone was the adventure fantasy The Last Hero: The Root of Evil, which required six days to achieve that feat. The comparison underscores the robustness of Cheburashka’s opening period and the strong appetite among audiences for family entertainment during the holiday season.
Earlier reports also indicated that Cheburashka set a new record for the first day of rental, grossing approximately 225 million rubles. The film’s rapid start signals high demographic appeal and effective word-of-mouth momentum, contributing to strong weekend attendance and sustained performance as the release window broadened.