New format: series will be shown in Russian cinemas

Spectators of Russian cinemas will be able to see not only films, but also series on the big screen, Vedomosti writes.

So, already on June 9, the theatrical premiere of the series "Two Hills" will take place.

This is a comedic dystopia produced by the Start video service about a world dominated by matriarchy.

The series was released at the end of April and, according to the online cinema, more than 600,000 households have already watched it by subscription.

The distributor of "Two Hills" was the largest distributor of Russian films "Central Partnership" in the country.

According to the CEO of the company Vadim Vereshchagin, the decision to show the project in cinema halls was influenced by the interest of the audience and the genre of the series - comedy.

Vereshchagin believes that today cinemas lack quality entertainment content.

According to Start, on the screens, viewers will see the beginning of the story of the original project, namely, the film version of the first episodes.

Other online cinemas have also thought about showing successful projects in cinema.

In particular, the Premier video service is currently working on the possibility of showing TV shows at the box office.

It is not yet known what specific projects the viewer will be able to see in the cinema.

“We are working on the possibility of a special film distribution version for our projects that are entering production.

In order to turn a series into a movie, this option must be set at the stage of the script.

And all the current experiments in the market related to the release of a serial format are more of a marketing tool, the effectiveness of which is too early to talk about, ”RT said in the press service of the site.

In turn, the press service of KARO told RT that due to the losses incurred, cinemas are trying to find different ways out of the current situation, trying new formats, including showing TV shows.

The demand will be for large-scale, high-quality projects with a good advertising campaign that will look advantageous on the big screen, as well as series with a well-known background, such as Manyunya.

“Of course, the content must be of high quality and look spectacular on the big screen.

We are betting on comedy projects - good emotions are now very necessary for the viewer.

Cooperation between cinemas and online will only expand.

Now we have got acquainted with the grid of current and future projects of almost all online platforms, and among them there are products that will definitely be successful in wide distribution,” KARO noted.

However, Mikhail Malakhov, a board member of the Association of Cinema Owners, took this initiative without optimism.

According to him, screenings of serials in cinemas will be primarily interesting in big cities, and only as a temporary solution.

“Serials in the regular repertoire of cinemas - I think it will not be very interesting.

Practice shows that serials remade from a full meter, as a rule, are not very successful, and vice versa, ”said the interlocutor of RT.

He noted that a project consisting of five episodes can be shown in cinemas, but it is not clear what to do with longer tapes - 16 and 24-episode.

Malakhov stressed that this would not bring serious income, but did not rule out that series on the big screen would still attract some viewers, and the final success depends "on the script and the people who make this movie."

“Any series has a rating, it has its own audience, and the producers who decided to re-edit it must have studied it.

I fully admit - maybe, ”concluded the speaker.

• Promo for the film "Jaeshbhai the Mighty"

• © Yash Raj Films

The possible showing of series on the screens of Russian cinemas was discussed back in March, when major Hollywood studios, including Warner Bros., Sony and The Walt Disney Company, canceled the distribution of their new films in Russia amid a special operation in Ukraine.

In connection with the departure of foreign films from Russian screens, cinemas faced serious financial difficulties.

The projected amount reached 11 billion rubles of the total loss by the end of 2022.

The press service of the KARO network noted that blockbusters accounted for up to 80% of the cinemas' revenue.

The loss of income has led to the closure of several cinemas in the country.

In May, it was reported that two Moscow cinemas of the United Network "Cinema Park" and "Formula Kino" stopped their work.

In addition, the Mirage cinema (Tetris shopping center) in Petrozavodsk was temporarily closed.

Earlier, the Association of Cinema Owners asked the state for subsidies in the amount of 6.5 billion rubles.

The Ministry of Finance demanded additional justifications indicating the sources of the proposed solutions, explaining that the state needs to reallocate federal budget resources to priority tasks.

To attract visitors, the largest Russian cinema chains, despite sharp losses, did not raise prices for tickets and cinema bar products.

Also, in order to somehow increase income, foreign and domestic films known and loved by the audience began to be shown again at the box office.

More projects of Indian and European production can now be seen in the cinema poster.

In addition, in mid-May, it became known that films, series and animation from Iran would be shown on large screens.

The government, meanwhile, was considering various options to keep the film business in the country afloat.

Thus, in March, the Ministry of Culture canceled security payments in the amount of 50,000 to 1 million rubles, which previously had to be paid when applying for subsidies for the production of national films.

Among other things, on March 23, at the plenary session of the Federation Council, a law was approved that will enable novice directors to receive full state funding for their project.