Hollywood appears to be relenting in its boycott of the Russian film market despite past vehement claims of supporting Ukraine with a policy of punishing Russia for its invasion.
Lionsgate is set to be the first to reverse its boycott. The studio has announced that it is planning a June 5 release in Russia of its John Wick spinoff film, Ballerina, starring Ana de Armas, according to Variety.
The studio told the Hollywood paper that it is ready to “move forward in Russia on a case-by-case basis,” and has made the decision to do so because of changing sentiment due to the “passage of time.” This despite that the war is ongoing and both Russians and Ukrainians are still dying in military actions.
Still, not every studio is currently following Lionsgate’s lead. Some of Hollywood’s biggest summer tentpoles are not currently scheduled to debut in Russia, the world’s sixth largest movie market. To date, Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps Paramount’s Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, and Universal’s Jurassic World Rebirth, are not yet scheduled for showings in Russia. This isn’t to say they won’t be, but thus far no plans to do so have been announced.
However, with Lionsgate opening the door, more are sure to follow.
Variety reported that Russian producers and distributors are in attendance this week at the Cannes Film Festival in France for the first time in several years to show that Russia is ready to make deals.
“It seems like things are opening,” a well-known producer told Variety. “I ran into a lot of Russian buyers on the street yesterday. So they’re here and ready to do business.”
Every U.S. film studio jumped onto a boycott of the Russian market with the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with all professing their fealty to the Ukrainian arts community. Consequently, Disney, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros., and more stopped opening their films in Russia.
However, most small, independent films never did join the boycott, and many small U.S. films have been appearing in the Russian market. Indeed, Oscar-winning film Anora debuted in Russia in 2024 and brought in $3 million in ticket sales there.
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