It’s been a year since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine began. Today the war grinds on as Ukraine continues to bravely defend itself, while Russia shows no sign of abandoning its ambitions of subjugating its democratic neighbour. For those of us more used to seeing the horrors of war played out on the big screen, the reality of its terror was brought home by cinema colleagues a couple of hours’ flight away facing invading forces, bombing campaigns and near-daily air ride sirens. Since then the cost of war has been brought home to European cinema in the form of steeply higher electricity prices, while in Ukraine the least of cinemas’ problems is that they often have no electricity at all following the latest Russian missile attack.
I will never forget the CJ Cinema Summit on 3 March 2022, just over a week into the war, when Russian forces were still encroaching on Kyiv and few believed that Ukraine’s defence would hold, let alone repel the Russian aggression. We heard from Sergey Budyak, CEO of Movex Ukraine, a software firm that continued to support its global clients from Kyiv amid the invasion. He spoke of the realities of staying behind with his family, a rifle constantly by his side, yet also spoke movingly about the importance of not forgetting the humanity of the invading forces. Natalia Baydan, the CEO of Ukraine’s Planeta Kino cinema chain, was in Kyiv and addressed the global audience about keeping her colleagues safe, from a room with its windows blacked out for fear of shelling. Neither knew if or when Russian forces would overrun them, but they were both determined to stay and fight.
Across the border, that same night, we also heard from Tomasz Jagiello, CEO at Helios cinemas. Poland was accepting tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees every day, a figure that would eventually reach hundreds of thousands. Poland and other European countries opened its arms to the women, children and old people fleeing the invasion. Helios put on screenings of animated films dubbed into Ukrainian, so that the refugees could forget the tragedy of their situation for an hour or two. Those screenings go on to this day at Helios. At Helios Przemysl by the Ukrainian border the screenings cannot completely drown out the constant drone of flights taking off and landing 24/7, bringing weapons, ammunition and supplies to Ukraine.
The war has impacted almost every aspect of daily life, at least here in Europe, from rising energy prices to hearing Ukrainian spoken on the streets. This war didn’t come as a complete surprise, but with ample warnings from the US and President Biden that Vladimir Putin was not amassing armed forces on Ukraine’s borders just for show. When the full-scale invasion began on the morning of 24 February 2022 it was clear that this was a war that would change everything, including for cinema. I wrote an editorial that same day in which I argued that Russia has made itself a pariah state and that there was plenty of historical precedent for the major Hollywood studios to halt the release of new film in the Russian Federation and Belarus. To their credit, they all did and have not reversed their stand since, even at a great financial cost to them and seeing their blockbusters brazenly shown in Russian cinema pirate screenings.
Over the past year we have continued to commission and publish more articles about the war and its impact on the cinema industry, both in Ukraine and in Russia. This has included the principled and brave resignation of Oleg Berezin from the Russian Cinema Association, how the war turned Ukrainian cinemas into bomb shelters, how Russia’s largest cinemas flirted with the idea of piracy screenings, Russian cinemas suing IMAX, Russia’s move to legalize copyright theft, how the global film and cinema industry has come together to support Ukraine and many more. We will continue to publish these articles.
Most recently the biggest news has been the growing number of Western films released officially and legally on Russian cinema screens. While the big Hollywood studios have continued to blacklist Russian cinemas, European and smaller American studios have fewer qualms about making money from selling films to Russia. This month alone has seen the Russian cinema releases of major titles such as “Shotgun Wedding,” “Winnie Pooh: Blood and Honey” and soon also “John Wick 4.” European distributors and sales agents have also been eager to fill the gap created by the absence of major Hollywood films, with the French seeming particularly keen to provide entertainment and escapism for the country raining death and destruction on Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. This economic activity indirectly contributes to Russian tax revenue which in turn helps to pay for the bombs and bullets killing Ukrainians day in and day out. “Culture of different,” is the self serving excuse certain French sales agents use as they sign yet more deals to increase their films’ market share in Russia, even as French films failed to crack the top ten in France in 2022.
One day the war will be over and it will end in Ukraine’s favour, even if it has already come at a terrible price. “Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something,” is the saying that we should all keep in mind when considering what we can do for Ukraine. One article, one donation and one armoured tank will not by themselves end the war. But put together they will turn the tide. Isolate Russia; support Ukraine. Slava Ukrainy.
Distributors
Hollywood Films Still Helping Boost Russias Box Office
Despite Russia’s ongoing and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, many film distributors who immediately ceased doing business with the aggressor have since begun cutting deals for the territory once again. According to Russia’s Cinema Fund, which tracks ticket sales, more than 140 films from the United States were released in the country after the start of the war.
While major Hollywood studios have pulled out of Russia, at least for now, titles such as the George Miller directed “Three Thousand Years of Longing,” “Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre,” released globally by STXinternational, and action-thriller “Plane” are topping the box office in the country. Even the Oscar nominated “Triangle of Sadness” was distributed theatrically in Russia last year. French films do so well in Russia, that Pathé opted for a nationwide theatrical release its recent action epic “The Three Musketeers.”
Some distributors who have chosen to continue releasing films in Russia have said they are only complying with contracts or agreements signed before the war began but have not signed new deals in the region. Sales agents can get away with claiming they are not offering films to “Russia-based entities” but have sold titles to non-Russian distributors who have chosen to release their films theatrically in the country.
Source: Variety
Premium Large Format
IMAX Bullish on 2023 Despite Quarterly Revenue Decline
Even though it’s fourth quarter earnings per share dipped from 31 cents to 19 cents year-over-year on USD $95.7 million in revenue, IMAX is optimistic it will return to pre-pandemic box office levels of USD $1.1 billion in 2023. During an earnings call on 22 February the premium large format giant pointed to COVID restrictions in China, one of its largest markets, as one reason revenue was down for the quarter.
In a statement, Richard L. Gelfond, Chief Executive Officer of IMAX, said of last year’s results, “Already in the new year, we’ve delivered our highest grossing first-run release ever with the ‘Avatar’ sequel, our best Chinese New Year box office ever, and multi-system agreements — demonstrating our prospects for strong box office and global network growth in 2023.”
IMAX netted USD $17.3 million in 2022, compared to $6.1 million in 2021, and currently has USD $415 million in liquidity.
Source: Celluloid Junkie
Movies
Disney Prepared 1,065 Versions of “Avatar: The Way of Water” for Theatrical Release
Just how hard was it for Walt Disney Studios and Lightstorm to get James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” in all of its different formats into theatres around the world for its December release date? A panel at the Hollywood Professional Association Tech Retreat outlined the extensive amount of work that went into preparing a record number of versions for the blockbuster.
Cameron and producer Jon Landau wanted each auditorium to have versions that were optimized for its equipment set up. Between 2D, 3D high dynamic range, high frame rate at 48 frames per second, various light levels, 2K, 4K, subtitles for 51 languages, etc. it meant Disney, 20th Century Studios, Lightstorm Entertainment and Deluxe created 1,065 unique versions of the “Avatar” sequel.
Marvel films usually have around 500 versions sent out. To get everything ready in time for the release dates, Disney began working on the deliverables for each version even before the picture was locked, breaking the film up into 15 reels. They were ultimately able to do quality control checks on 800 of the versions before the “Avatar: The Way of Water” hit theatres.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Exhibitors
Cineworld Outlines Schedule for Exiting Bankruptcy
Cineworld’s legal team was back in bankruptcy court on 21 February to detail a schedule for the remaining activities related to its Chapter 11 filing that would see it exiting bankruptcy by the end of May. The world’s second largest exhibitor is simultaneously negotiating a debt-for-equity transaction with their existing lenders and seeking a buyer for its worldwide assets in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Israel, Central Europe and Eastern Europe.
In regards to the latter, initial bids were due in 16 February and while Cineworld received indicative proposals for the segments not included in the bankruptcy case – such as Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Israel – there were no offers for the entire company. Nor did Cineworld receive any all cash bids or a bid that came close to the USD $6 billion of secured indebtedness that exists on the company’s balance sheet. It is highly unlikely such a buyer exists.
Thus Cineworld appears headed for a standalone reorganization wherein their existing lenders take over the company. In that scenario unsecured creditors would need to vote on the plan which could see them receiving pennies on the dollar for their impaired claims. This includes the USD $965 million judgement against Cineworld that a Canadian court awarded Cineplex over a failed 2019 acquisition agreement.
Source: Celluloid Junkie
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