Klim Shipenko’s film Slave-2 amassed 2 billion rubles in its first six days at the box office, according to TASS, which cited the Unified Federal Automated Information System for cinema showings. The early box office numbers highlight the momentum of a sequel that followed a highly anticipated original release.
From the start of the year, the total reported wages in the industry stood at 2,009,329,638 rubles, and Alexei Nazhny’s animated feature Bremen Town Musicians also held a prominent position in Russia’s cinema rankings, pulling in 1,470,325,364 rubles during its opening weekend.
On January 3, reports noted that in its debut weekend, Kholop-2 earned 24 percent more than last year’s benchmark holder, Cheburashka. The cumulative gross for the second installment of Slave reached 295 million rubles during its initial release period.
Actor Milos Bikovich, who portrayed the lead in Slave and its sequel, commented that the project held significant personal value for him and his career, underscoring the film’s impact on his professional journey.
The original movie Slave, released in 2019, racked up three billion rubles at the Russian box office and remained a top performer for an extended stretch. It was briefly outpaced by the family comedy Cheburashka, which rose to the top of the domestic rankings. Filming for the sequel began in Saint Petersburg in the summer of 2023 and wrapped in the same city, with the premiere of Slave-2 taking place on January 1, 2024.
In other industry developments, Lapina, the songwriter behind Polyushku, faced a potential legal challenge from Lyubov Uspenskaya, who threatened to pursue action in response to a separate dispute. The broader conversation around song rights and performer collaborations continued to draw public attention as credits and agreements for popular titles evolved in the first months of the year.