“Even Stalin showed trophy movies”: will American blockbusters appear in cinemas

– The authorities will not agree on whether to allow the demonstration of American blockbusters in Russia without the consent of the copyright holders. It is not a matter of pangs of conscience, but of national pride. It has been repeatedly announced at various levels that Russia is itself a great film power, and that American cinema promotes values ​​that are alien to our country. There is no agreement among the market participants themselves either: some cinema owners claim that they will not survive without parallel imports, others (primarily large entrepreneurs, for whom cinema is only one of the businesses) do not want to fall under the new sanctions of the West.

Western studios refused to distribute their films in Russia almost immediately after the start of the military special operation in Ukraine. Since then, cinema owners have been asking the Ministry of Culture not only to compensate for the losses, but also to resolve the issue systematically, since it is obvious that blockbusters will not return to the country in the foreseeable future. The Association of Cinema Owners claims a loss of 4.5 billion rubles and a 70% drop in turnover compared to pre-pandemic 2019. And most importantly – about the inevitable closure of most of the cinemas, if a way out is not found in the near future. However, the government does not yet share these alarmist sentiments.

As Dmitry Davidenko, head of the Department of Cinematography of the Ministry of Culture, said at a meeting in the Federation Council, according to the UAIS registration system, which is the ultimate truth for Russian officials, 103 cinemas in the country have been suspended and only 43 have finally closed. At the same time, more than 2 thousand objects continue to carry out regular film screenings. The total fees, according to the Ministry of Culture, were 44% lower than in the same period in 2021. But the authorities remain optimistic. “The industry will survive anyway. We have no other option, – Davidenko inspired the participants of the meeting, – This is the time of opportunity: Russian manufacturers are interested in making their products and filling cinemas as soon as possible. In addition, network owners, in his opinion, should be more open to content from friendly countries.

From the words of the official it followed that the Ministry of Culture makes the main bet on domestic cinema. Since the beginning of the year, more than 170 Russian films have been released, and 75 are being re-released. To expand the assortment, the government allocated an additional 5.5 billion rubles to filmmakers, which should be enough to produce 160 films. In 2023, they will give another 11.6 billion, and in 2024-25, 12.28 billion each. In confirmation of his words, Davidenko shook with an impressive stack of releases of future film masterpieces. However, these grandiose plans for some reason did not impress the senators. “Well, I don’t know,” Eduard Isakov drawled after briefly reviewing the list of films scheduled for release in 2022-23, “I don’t even know where I will go with my family. It’s kind of hard to choose from this content.”

As for films from friendly countries, as Aleksey Voronkov, head of the Association of Cinema Owners, explained, this is not an option. Russian cinemas have already scraped off the market all the more or less suitable Chinese, Korean and Indian repertoire. “But this is not a working story. (They give) no more than 7-10% of the total turnover. It is impossible to say that we will be able to survive on film production from friendly countries,” Voronkov stressed.

According to him, even those Russian films that, according to their releases, looked like real blockbusters, did not justify the hopes placed on them at the box office. After the departure of American studios, the viewer began to get used to the idea that nothing interesting is happening in cinemas now and turns to other sources. The data of the Ministry of Culture also confirm the decline in interest in domestic cinema: if last year cinemas box office for Russian films amounted to 8.3 billion rubles, then for the same period of this year – 6.8 billion. Although their competition has noticeably diminished.

Business owners call their situation catastrophic. And they hint that the industry is faced with a truly Hamlet question: to steal or not to steal? According to entrepreneurs, they know a way to bring studio content to the country and return American cinema to viewers. But for this they need a mechanism. In other words, the state should legalize parallel imports in cinematography, as it has already done with respect to industrial goods and technologies. The most obvious way to “extract” blockbusters is the law on compulsory licensing “We will add those who refuse to sell directly to the register of unfriendly ones and through the court we will get the right to use their products on the territory of the Russian Federation with payment of compensation,” Mr. Voronkov describes a possible scheme. According to the supporters of this idea, the point about monetary compensation, which the studios will still receive, will allow Russian cinemas not to look like thieves.

Representatives of the State Duma and the Federation Council, who support compulsory licensing, in turn, voice arguments that are absolutely amazing in the current realities. So, according to the deputy Dmitry Kuznetsov, the Russian people “should have the right of access to global cultural values”, and “business should be able to show American cinema.” “Even Stalin showed trophy films,” the people’s choice recalled at the meeting.

Senator Andrei Kutepov believes that Western studios, by refusing to work in Russia, “infringe on the rights of Russian citizens compared to citizens of other states,” and also threaten the existence of the film distribution industry in Russia. It is not difficult to see that such statements run counter to the general line of the same State Duma and the Federation Council, which have repeatedly stated that the West is trying to impose attitudes and values ​​alien to its people on Russia. However, the parliamentarians clarified that with the help of parallel import it will be possible to show not all American blockbusters, but only those that do not contain anything ideologically dangerous.

However, not everyone shares these ideas. There is no agreement either among the people’s deputies themselves (For example, the head of the State Duma Committee on Culture, Elena Yampolskaya, accuses her colleagues of duplicity: “How can you talk about rotten American cinema, and offer to steal it with the other hand”) So, and more importantly, among participants in the film screening market . In particular, all major chains oppose the bill on compulsory licensing and even wrote to the head of the Cabinet of Ministers, Mikhail Mishustin, about it. It is not difficult to understand their motivation: the networks are owned by representatives of big business (for example, Alexander Mamut), who do not want to attract the next Western sanctions on their heads.

The representative of the Ministry of Culture at a meeting in the Federation Council said that the department cannot ignore this position. And through negotiations and conversations that have been going on for several months, he is trying to “reach a common opinion” and “grope for a systemic solution.” Where can I get a copy to show? In a friendly country with our partners and substitute them? These moments require a clear understanding of reflection and responsibility,” said Dmitry Didenko. He stressed that the Ministry of Culture expects to find options for supporting the industry in the legal zone.