Russian cinemas are on the verge of bankruptcy: box office revenues have fallen by 70%
Cinemas 'lack material for showings'
Box office in Russian cinemas fell by 56-70%, the industry suffered losses of 4.5 billion rubles, according to the report of the specialized committee of the Federation Council on economic policy.
The figures were obtained on the basis of data from the Association of Cinema Owners of the Russian Federation. At this level of decline, movie theaters can not only pay off loans, make repairs and reconstruction, but also support themselves.
Many cinemas have cut back on weekdays and left screenings only on weekends due to ‘lack of material to show’. The committee noted that cinemas survived the pandemic thanks to the support of the state, which currently does not exist.
The Federation Council of the Russian Federation believes that the way out could be compulsory licensing of objects of copyright and related rights. In particular, it is proposed to show foreign films without the consent of the rights holders, but with the payment of remuneration to them.
Earlier, a draft law on compulsory licensing of content from ‘unfriendly’ countries was submitted to the State Duma. As the author of the initiative, deputy Dmitriy Kuznetsov, stated, the rights holders who refused to provide their films to the Russians because of the war in Ukraine are ‘abusing the right of ownership’, therefore such a law is justified.
Universal, Warner Bros, Sony, Disney and Paramount film companies stopped the distribution of their films in Russia due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. BBC Studios, Disovery and Netflix also terminated their cooperation.
