The united network Cinema Park and Formula Kino filed a lawsuit against IMAX in order to resume cooperation, Kommersant reports.

In lawsuits filed with the Moscow Arbitration Court, the legal entities of the companies demand that the Canadian corporation return "to the performance of the duty in kind", that is, to fulfill contractual obligations instead of paying compensation.

Appeals were registered on October 26, 2022.

So far, the court has left the applications motionless, since the plaintiffs did not attach to them an extract from the register of legal entities indicating information about the location of the defendant - this is a mandatory document in case of proceedings with a foreign person.

According to the materials of the court, the necessary documents must be submitted before November 29.

According to representatives of the Association of Cinema Owners, IMAX suspended its activities in Russia on June 1 without public statements and clarification of its position.

Moreover, the Canadians banned the use of their format, despite the fact that all the equipment belongs to the distributors.

Previously, Russian cinema chains have already filed lawsuits against IMAX, but not with a requirement to fulfill obligations, but on the contrary, in order to terminate the contract.

In particular, such a statement was filed by the Imperiya Igry company (the Soft Cinema network).

There were no IMAX representatives at the preliminary hearings of the Arbitration Court of the Chelyabinsk Region.

The reason why distributors cannot use Canadian equipment without the permission of the company is simple: all cinema systems are updated daily remotely directly by IMAX.

This setting takes place before the first session, and electronic keys are generated only through the IMAX company and it is impossible to obtain them from other sources.

“The format key is released with the permission of IMAX.

Accordingly, all films, even Russian ones - "Stalingrad", "Movement Up", "T-34" and so on... To show them, you need a key.

And the IMAX company believes that it can unilaterally not fulfill the terms of the contract.

We don’t think so, ”Alexey Vasyasin, general director of the combined cinema network Cinema Park and Formula Kino, told RT.

If the court satisfies the requirements of cinema networks, this verdict will become another way to protect the rights of Russian companies in connection with the withdrawal of foreigners from the domestic market.  

“If the court obliges him to return, to fulfill the terms of the contract, then the IMAX halls must work,” Vasyasin emphasized, also noting that IMAX has no objective and legal reasons for refusing to fulfill contractual obligations.

“They think that they have force majeure, but we don’t think so.

There is no force majeure on the territory of the Russian Federation... There is content that the copyright holder is ready to show in IMAX format.

So we think our partner, who's already been, is wrong.

And so, as the court will judge, ”Vasyasin said.

The early CEO of the combined cinema network Cinema Park and Formula Kino, in an interview with RT, expressed the opinion that in the future IMAX could return to Russia, but the terms of cooperation could change significantly and become “fairer”.

IMAX Corporation left the Russian market on June 1, 2022.

It was reported that the company's employees were laid off and the management moved to London.

Large-scale problems in the Russian film distribution industry began in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and worsened in March 2022.

Against the backdrop of a special operation in Ukraine, the largest Hollywood studios - Universal, Warner Bros., Sony and The Walt Disney Company - refused to show their new films in Russia.

At the end of October, the Association of Cinema Owners published a resolution in which it called the situation on the film screening market in Russia "critical and of an extraordinary and unavoidable nature."

Based on the data of several studies conducted by specialized organizations, the Association stated that against the backdrop of the withdrawal of Western players from the Russian market and the absence of a significant number of domestically produced films on the screens that are attractive to the mass audience, the attendance of cinema halls from April to September of this year fell by 60% .

At the same time, the revenue and attendance of Russian cinemas in September amounted to 70% of the figures for the same period last year.

By the beginning of October 2022, more than 160 cinemas were closed.

The sponsors of the resolution noted