Following the announcement by major Hollywood studios that new releases will be suspended in Russia, Russian cinema networks may turn to Bollywood blockbusters and films from other Asian and Latin American nations, according to the Russian daily Vedomosti.
Foreign films accounted up 75% of the Russian box office in 2021. The choice of the movie theatre chains was largely influenced by two criteria, according to their executives: first, going to the movies is one of the most popular leisure activities among Russians. “The challenge is to make it inexpensive and relevant, even with dramatically higher costs for lighting and projector components, which have climbed by around 80% due to the exchange rate,” explains Alexey Vasyasin.
There will be no increase in the price of cinema tickets, despite the fact that the cost of most products and services has risen. The heads of Russia’s five largest cinema networks – the united cinema network Cinema Park and Formula Kino, Premier Hall, Karo, Kinomax – told Vedomosti, the Russian daily newspaper, and Cinema Star, that cinemas will maintain pre-crisis prices not only for movie tickets but also for cinema bar products.
According to the research firm Nevafilm Research, these cinema chains account for 31.5 percent of the film distribution market in terms of movie halls as of January 1, 2022.
Cinema chains will not raise ticket rates and will instead freeze them. However, theatres will continue to play Russian and South Korean films, as well as Bollywood blockbusters.
The joint theatre network Cinema Park and Formula Cinema in Russia saw sold-out houses and new viewers for a special screening of Radhe Shyam, an Indian hit film.
After the people’s republics of Donetsk and Luhansk requested assistance in defending themselves, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24. Following the military action, western countries levied a wave of sanctions aimed at the Russian economy.
