Almost all Russian films produced with funding from the Russian Federation's budget turned out to be unprofitable
The vast majority of Russian films released in theaters recently have turned out to be unprofitable. Only 8 out of 83 Russian films shown in theaters by April 13, 2026, broke even. These are films produced using state funding.
This information is reported by Russian Telegram channels, citing film critics and experts.
The 15 films for which production budgets were officially announced collectively incurred losses totaling 4.5 billion rubles. “The other 60 Russian releases likely also suffered significant losses, as each was seen by fewer than 1 million viewers,” the analyst notes.
The most unprofitable films in wide release in 2026 were “Levsha” (-696 million rubles), "The King of My Love" (-520 million rubles), and "Guantanamera" (-509 million rubles), while in limited release—"The Secret of Admiral Ushakov" (-60 million rubles), “For Palych!” (-122 million rubles), and “Golden Take” (-189 million rubles).
At the same time, as Lavrov points out, filmmakers are retroactively adjusting the production costs declared during pitch sessions in the official EAIS system. In particular, the budget for “The Golden Double” was reduced from 200 to 130 million rubles, and that of “Cinderella. The Secret of Three Wishes" was reduced from 300 to 170 million.
Meanwhile, there are calls in Russia to ban foreign films during the May holidays.
In the Russian capital, concerns are growing about the safety of holding the May 9 parade. Despite official statements from the Kremlin that preparations are proceeding “according to plan,” reports are circulating in military circles and among bloggers about the cancellation of rehearsals and possible restrictions on the event due to the risk of drone attacks.
As a reminder, last year Russia canceled the Navy Day parade, scheduled for July 27, 2025, for the first time. This occurred following an attack by Ukrainian drones.
