Major Hollywood Giants Including Warner Bros, Disney Pull Out Of Russian Cinema

Like most global companies pulling out of Russia for invading Ukraine, next in line is Hollywood.

Russians love the cinema, and after years of translating Hollywood films, Russian Mila Grekova was suddenly thrown out of work after Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

Five Hollywood giants such as Disney, Warner Bros, Universal, Sony Pictures and Paramount have decided to stop releasing new films in Russia. This has left Russian cinema-enthusiasts with no options to watch the latest blockbusters.

AFP

However, it has still not managed to turn Grekova against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"It's the West that I hate today and not Putin," the 56-year-old said.

"Bollywood may replace Hollywood in Russia, but it's too late for me to learn Hindi," she said.

Just like how other sectors were hit by sanctions, the film industry is turning away from the West, and will look towards its own movies. Russian cinemagoers make up for the highest numbers of admissions in Europe - 145.7 million admissions were recorded in 2021, according to the European Audiovisual Observatory.

People rush to watch Hollywood films, which are dubbed instead of being shown with subtitles.

Before Hollywood opted out, Russian company Mosfilm-Master was dubbing around 10 foreign films a month, from English.

"Now we have lost two thirds" of business, the company's director Yevgeny Belin told AFP in its high-tech dubbing studio in Moscow.

"During the pandemic, we had films but no cinemas open. Today, we have our cinemas but no films," he said.

Kidding Herself

Last month, Russia's National Association of Cinema Owners said last month that cinemas risk losing up to 80 percent of their revenue. Now, Mosfilm-Master is on the lookout for translators from Korean and Mandarian, but Belin added that he "doubts that Asian films work for Russians" because of cultural differences.

"Westerners are closer to us," said the 70-year-old, who has spent three decades in dubbing.

Olga Zinyakova, the president of Karo, one of Russia's leading cinema chains, said she is confident the industry can rebuild. "The situation is extremely difficult but not catastrophic," she said.

"Since the arrival of Hollywood in post-Soviet Russia 30 years ago, we have gone through a lot of crises: political, economic and the pandemic," she added.

The number of tickets sold in Karo's 35 cinemas has fallen by 70 percent, Zinyakova said.

The Russian government has promised to offer significant financial support and tax breaks to film production and cinemas, and they're looking to replace Hollywood films with more homegrown films.

"Russians will explore themselves more deeply," said Zinyakova.

"And when Hollywood comes back, the Russian market and viewers will no longer be the same," she said.

Boxoffice

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