A Russian film project with a budget of over $3 million flopped at the box office even before its release
The Russian film *The Last of the Batmen: Kolobok*, which was released on August 6, faced low demand even during the advance ticket sales phase. According to publicly available schedules from Moscow movie theaters, only a small number of tickets were purchased for the film’s first screenings.
Even before the official release, users had lowered the film’s rating on the KinoAfisha platform to 1.1 points. Some viewers attributed the low ratings to a protest against the postponement of the premiere of another film—“The Worm: A New Day”—which had previously been heavily promoted for Russian release.
According to media reports, “Kolobok” grossed about 3.6 million rubles during advance ticket sales, even though the Russian Film Fund had allocated about 250 million rubles in state support for the project.
At the same time, the global release of “Worm: A New Day” showed significantly better results—the film grossed about $932 million in its opening weekend, marking one of the most successful debuts in film history.
This is according to reports from Russian propaganda media.
Almost all Russian films produced with funding from the Russian Federation’s budget have turned out to be unprofitable.
Meanwhile, there are calls in Russia to ban foreign films during the May holidays.
In the Russian capital, concerns are growing about the security of 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 completely canceled the Navy Day parade for the first time; it was scheduled to take place on July 27, 2025. This occurred against the backdrop of an attack by Ukrainian drones.
