Cinemas in Russia

Cinema of Russia

Main article: Cinema of Russia

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State Film Register

Main article: State Film Register

2024: The government allocated 819 million rubles for the purchase of digital equipment for cinemas

The Russian government has allocated 819 million rubles for the purchase of digital equipment for cinemas. This became known on July 14, 2024. The funds will be used to equip 93 cinemas in 37 regions of the country.

According to RBC, funding is carried out within the framework of the Cinema Fund program to support organizations that show films in settlements with a population of up to 500 thousand people. The purpose of the program is to create conditions for the demonstration of national films in small towns and villages of Russia.

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According to the published list, cinema halls in various types of settlements will receive new equipment: from small villages to cities. Among the regions receiving support are the Republic of Bashkortostan, Samara Region, Krasnodar Territory, the Republic of Crimea, the Leningrad Region and others.

In the Republic of Bashkortostan, five cinemas are being modernized in the villages of Askino, Bakaly, Ermekeevo, Kirgiz-Miyaki and Krasnaya Gorka. Each institution will receive 9 million rubles for equipment.

Samara region will update six cinemas, including in the village of Borskoye, the village of Krasnoarmeyskoye and the city of Pokhvistnevo. In the Krasnodar Territory, modern equipment will be installed in the village of Kabardinka, the city of Kurganinsk and the village of Rodnikovskaya.

Particular attention is paid to the regions recently included in Russia. Five cinema halls are being modernized in the Donetsk People's Republic, and five in the Luhansk People's Republic.

The new equipment will allow you to demonstrate films in high quality, including in 3D format. For visually impaired viewers, the possibility of tiflocommenting is provided.

The Film Foundation program has been operating for several years. In 2023, 117 cinema halls were modernized in 40 regions of Russia. Thus, in 2024, the number of updated cinemas decreased slightly, but the geography of the project expanded.

Very soon, residents of Utevka, Shentala, Bolshaya Chernigovka and Bolshaya Glushitsa will have the opportunity to watch films in a qualitatively new format.[1]

2023: Fees of Russian cinemas returned to the pre-pandemic level and amounted to 40 billion rubles

The fees of Russian cinemas at the end of 2023 reached 40 billion rubles, which almost corresponds to the indicator of 2021 (40.7 billion rubles). On December 28, 2023, the executive director of the State Film Fund Fedor Sosnov at a press conference on the annual results of the film industry.

According to him, in 2023, Russian film projects collected 27.9 billion rubles at the box office, which amounted to 72% of the total box office. Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Cinema Fund Tatyana Golikova, commenting on the recorded indicators, noted the following:

This is actually a pre-pandemic [we are talking about the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic] period when both Hollywood and European products were fully present in the Russian film market. And what is very important, of this amount, 28 billion rubles is provided by Russian films.

Fees of Russian cinemas in 2023 reached 40 billion rubles

As the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Lyubimova noted, the total fees of national cinema in 2023 were expected at the level of 13 billion rubles. She also spoke about the increase in the number of cinemas: in 2023 there are 2278 cinemas and almost 6 thousand cinemas (in 2021 the number of cinemas was 2179).

According to Fyodor Sosnov, in 2021, Hollywood releases made a decisive contribution to the collection of Russian cinemas, and the collection of domestic films amounted to only 10.4 billion rubles, or 26%. After February 2022, Hollywood majors left Russia, however, as Sosnov notes, the Russian market managed to achieve economic stability through films of its own production - largely thanks to releases for family and children's audiences. The two most visited films of 2023 are the family adventure film Cheburashka (22.4 million viewers) and the fairy tale Pike's Command (8.5 million viewers).^[2]

2022

Russian cinema networks suffered billions of dollars in losses at the end of the year

At the end of 2022, the largest Russian film networks suffered billions of dollars in losses, and their revenue fell by about half compared to the previous year. This will be discussed by the indicators reflected in the financial statements and disclosed at the end of April 2023.

Photo author: Dmitry Chistyakov. Source: gamemag.ru

According to RBC, Cinema Park JSC, the main legal entity of the largest combined cinema network Formula Kino and Cinema Park, in 2022 showed revenues of 4.6 billion rubles. This is 43.2% less compared to the result for 2021 and comparable to the level of 2020 (4.3 billion rubles). The net loss of Cinema Park JSC in 2022 amounted to 1.8 billion rubles, while a year earlier 861.8 million rubles of net profit were received.

The named united cinema network has another legal entity - LLC RSM, which operates 12 cinemas in Moscow, Moscow region, St. Petersburg and the regions. Its revenue decreased in 2022 by 47.3%, amounting to 1.1 billion rubles. Net loss was at 482.4 million rubles against 37 million rubles of net profit in 2021.

Other major players in the Russian market also faced a sharp deterioration in financial performance in the current geopolitical situation. So, RBC notes, the revenue of the KARO network decreased in 2022 by 41.8% - to 2.2 billion rubles, and the net loss amounted to 1.3 billion rubles against 9.4 million rubles a year earlier. The Kinomax network's annual revenue decreased by 46.6% to about 2 billion rubles, and the loss amounted to almost 1 billion rubles against a profit of 193.4 million rubles in 2021. The company managing the Cinema Star network in 2022 received 491.5 million rubles in revenue, which is 44.2% less than in the previous year. At the same time, a loss of 40 million rubles was shown against a profit of about 9.3 million rubles in 2021.

"The departure of Western film companies led to a drop in the revenue of the largest film networks by half at the end of 2022. Despite the fact that the forecasts of market participants for 2023 are optimistic, the industry is still asking for targeted support from the authorities, "RBC notes[3]

Cinema revenue from the rental of Russian films for the year increased by 15%

The revenue of cinemas from the rental of Russian films in 2022 increased by 15% compared to 2021 - to 12 billion from 10.4 billion rubles. Timur Imaev, an analyst at Estimate Company, announced this in January 2023.

According to him, the volume of presence of foreign films among all films in the Russian box office in 2022 amounted to 49%, and in 2021 the figure was 75%.

Against the background of the condemnation of the entry of Russian troops into the territory of Ukraine in the spring of 2022, Sony, Warner Brothers and The Walt Disney suspended the rental of their content in Russia. According to the association of cinema owners, by December 2022, rental fees in the country decreased by 56-70%. Such dynamics do not allow cinema owners to pay loans and maintain premises.

The growth of revenue from the rental of domestic content is also noted by online cinemas. In 2022, judging by their data, new original Russian series dominated the viewing ratings, confirmed the general director of the Internet Video Association Alexei Byrdin. Only the series "House of the Dragon" released in Amediatek could compete with them. And the number of domestic shows last year also increased - more than 1 thousand of them were released, he said.

In connection with the termination of the rental of films by Hollywood film studios, the number of foreign films that the United States did not participate in the production has also grown, Timur Imaev added. If in 2021 a 201 similar release was released, then in 2022 their number increased to 233. At the same time, the fees of these tapes increased slightly - from 8 million rubles to 10.4 million per film. Therefore, it is our content that will become the main locomotive of the Russian film distribution market in 2023, since replacing Hollywood films with tapes from Turkey, India, South Korea and other countries is unlikely to have a significant effect, the expert said.^[4]

Reduction in box office receipts by 41.9% to 23.7 billion rubles

The box office of cinemas in Russia in 2022 almost halved - by 41.9% to 23.7 billion rubles. This is evidenced by the data of the Cinema Foundation, which were released in early January 2023.

Ticket sales for Russian cinema sessions accounted for 52.1% of box office receipts, or 12.3 billion rubles. The indicators of Russian cinema exceeded the level of 2021 by 18.5% at the box office and by 16.3% in attendance. In total, in 2022, 83.2 million tickets were sold for film sessions in cinemas in the country, including 46.2 million (55.5%) for Russian projects.

Box office of cinemas in Russia in 2022 almost halved

Fees for foreign films in 2022 amounted to 11.3 billion rubles, 37 million tickets were sold for sessions of foreign films. Compared to 2021, the decrease in box office receipts and attendance was 62.6% and 65.1%, respectively (19 billion rubles, 69 million viewers), the Cinema Fund said.

The five largest films in terms of tickets sold in 2022 were the adventure fantasy directed by Dmitry Dyachenko "The Last Hero: Messenger of Darkness," the action adventure "Ancharted: Not on the Cards," the historical drama directed by Anton Megerdichev "Heart of Parma," the superhero film based on Marvel comics "Spider-Man: No Way Home," the family animated film "Zveropoy 2."

In 2022, 91 cinemas closed in Russia, and their debt became even larger, said the head of AVK PRO Roman Isaev. At the same time, Vadim Vereshchagin, general director of the Central Partnership film company, is confident that the bill on compulsory content licenses will not be able to help cinemas. According to the expert, without investment in promotion, films will still have no fees. In terms of further risks, Russian content may stop protecting against pirates around the world, he added.^[5]

The volume of the film distribution market in Russia in the summer sank by 74%

The volume of the film distribution market in Russia sank by 74% compared to the summer of pre-pandemic 2019 by the summer of 2022 - the Association of Cinema Owners. At the moment, Russian cinemas still lack high-quality content, and the viewer was indifferent to the films of friendly countries.

A third of cinemas closed against the background of the ban on foreign prime ministers in Russia during the conflict in Ukraine

Due to the lack of foreign prime ministers against the background of the conflict in Ukraine and the sanctions of the United States and their Satkllit countries, by June 2022 the number of working cinemas in Russia decreased by more than a third.

Cinema revenue fell 63% and attendance fell 57%. Cinemas are forced to close the halls - Forbes.

2021: Box office of Russian cinemas soared by 78% over the year

In 2021, cinemas in Russia collected a total of 40.7 billion rubles, which is 78% higher than a year ago. However, compared to 2019, in the absence of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, box office receipts fell by 26%. This is evidenced by the data of the Cinema Foundation, published in early January 2022.

At the end of 2021, Russians purchased a total of 145.7 million movie tickets, which is 64.1% more than in 2020. The box office of domestic films amounted to 10.4 billion rubles - 39.7 million tickets were sold for them. The collection of foreign films reached 30.3 billion rubles: 106 million tickets were bought for their sessions.

Box office of Russian cinemas for the year soared by 78%

As noted in the Cinema Fund, the restoration of Russian film distribution was interrupted in early November 2021 due to the introduction of non-working days. However, December, thanks to several box office premieres, was the most successful month of 2021.

At the end of December 2021, the Russian government decided to allocate an additional 5.5 billion rubles to support Russian cinema. As Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin noted, films created for budget money should tell from traditional values ​ ​ and foster love for the Motherland.

Due to the introduction of QR codes in Russian regions, the organizers of events and cinema networks are losing spectators. As the head of the Association of Cinema Owners (AVK) Oleg Berezin told Kommersant, antiquated measures led to a decrease in traffic in these cinemas by two to three times. Taking into account the new measures, the recovery of the entertainment events market to the level of 2019 will occur only in a year and a half after the complete lifting of restrictions, that is, maybe in five to ten years, predicts the editor-in-chief of InterMedia Yevgeny Safronov. He added that in 2021, the turnover of the entrepreneurial sector of spectacular industries fell about four times.^[6]

2020: Fees collapse by 59% to 22.8 billion due to COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, cinemas lose customers. In 2020, fees throughout the country fell by 59%, to 22.8 billion rubles.

2019: Film distribution market volume grew by 10.3% to 55.5 billion rubles

The total box office of film distribution in Russia in 2019 reached 55.5 billion rubles, which has never happened. This is evidenced by research data from the main segments of the domestic film industry of the information and analytical publication "Russian Film Industry - 2019," prepared by the Cinema Foundation.

Compared to 2018, the volume of box office receipts in 2019 increased by 10.3%, and the number of tickets sold in cinemas increased by 9.5%, to 219.4 million units.

Box office of Russian cinemas in 2019 became a record

The fees of Russian cinema in 2019 amounted to 12.3 billion rubles (22.1% of the total); 50.6 million tickets were sold for sessions of Russian films in cinemas of the country (23.1% of the total number of tickets).^[7]

Although the indicators of domestic cinema lost to record values ​ ​ in 2018 (13.8 billion rubles, 57.9 million viewers), they nevertheless made a significant contribution to the development of the Russian film distribution market, the Cinema Fund noted.

The growth of the Russian film distribution market in 2019 is ensured, first of all, by the great success of the American blockbusters "The Lion King  " and "Avengers: Endgame," each of which earned more than 2.5 billion rubles in the Russian Federation, 11 more foreign films collected more than 1 million rubles. In total, foreign film production earned 43.2 billion rubles in Russia. This is 18.4% higher than in 2018.

The highest grossing films of 2019 in Russia:

• Kholop (Russia) - 3 billion rubles;
• "The Lion King" (USA) - 2.6 billion rubles;
• Avengers: Endgame (USA) - 2.5 billion rubles;
• T-34 (Russia) - 2.3 billion rubles;
• "Maleficent: Lady of Darkness" (USA) - 1.9 billion rubles;
• Joker (USA, Canada) - 1.9 billion rubles;
• Cold heart-2 (USA) - 1.8 billion rubles;
• "How to train a dragon-3" (USA) - 1.7 billion rubles;
• "The Secret Life of Pets-2" (USA, France, Japan) - 1.5 billion rubles;
• Aladdin (USA) - 1.2 billion rubles.

1993

Moscow, 1990s. Advertising for a French film.

1974

View of the cinema "Russia" and the monument to A.S. Pushkin. 1974.

1968: Mobile Cinemas

Mobile children's cinema "Malysh," which ran around Ufa in the early 1960s.

1956

Second Indian Film Festival at the Udarnik Cinema, 1956

1950

At the Udarnik cinema in Moscow, 1950

1935

Film movement of the All-Russian Photo Department of the People's Commissariat of Education, 1935, USSR

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