The film Flying Ship is unlikely to hit the 1 billion rubles mark at the box office, yet it will remain a talking point at least through April 18. This projection comes from Roman Isaev, a member of the board of directors for the Association of Cinema Owners AVK, and the creator and president of AVK PRO. He notes that the project has generated steady attention within Russia and is still under consideration by audiences across the country.
Isaev explains that the tragedy at Crocus Town Hall took a toll on crowd behavior, with viewers increasingly avoiding crowded venues. This shift in audience patterns is a key factor weighing on any dramatic box office surge for Flying Ship. He cautions that reaching the billion rubles milestone appears highly unlikely under the current circumstances. A sharp, unexplained surge in attendance could push the film past that line, but he does not expect such a jump to materialize soon.
Beyond Flying Ship, Isaev weighs in on the performance of another domestic title, Onegin. The expert forecasts show the film reaching around 800 to 850 million rubles rather than a billion. He emphasizes that Onegin has already defied early industry expectations and remains a strong performer. According to him, this success reflects the broad engagement of industry participants who recognize the value of a well-made national film winning broad support—whether or not it crosses the billion rubles threshold.
Recent reports indicate Flying Ship, directed by Ilya Uchitel, is scheduled for re-release on April 1 as audiences respond to renewed distribution efforts. The leading distributor in Russia and the CIS reportedly earned 258 million rubles in the most recent weekend, underscoring a robust market activity even when the billion rubles milestone feels remote. The film’s status, subsequently, echoes the broader conversation about what audiences expect from homegrown cinema and how distribution strategies can influence a title’s trajectory.
Earlier discussions highlighted Flying Ship among the most anticipated adaptations of Russian literary classics, positioning it within a broader movement to bring beloved national characters to contemporary screens. The ongoing dialogue around box office performance and re-release plans illustrates how industry participants balance artistic ambition with commercial realities. In this climate, Flying Ship stands as a case study in how a film can achieve lasting visibility even if a spectacular box office figure remains out of reach for now. As the market evolves, observers will watch closely how audience behavior changes and how distributors respond with timing and marketing that keeps domestic productions in the public eye.