News

Korean hit #Alive kicked up another $2.2M this weekend, holding well throughout the mid-weeks, but with an overall 63% Friday-Saturday-Sunday dip from the comparable weekend days last session. The timely thriller that’s set against the backdrop of a city in lockdown due to a virus has now grossed $11M. It’s a continued indication that moviegoers want something new, and in cases of a strong local industry, they’re also enjoying homegrown fare. Still, not much is going to rock the international box office until Hollywood starts releasing fresh titles.

A question has been raised as to whether the studios could release big new movies overseas without the biggest domestic cities given the situation in the U.S. is still dire. While international makes up the lion’s share of receipts (73% in 2019), a finance source explains that an event picture generally goes out on more than 30,000 screens worldwide — those screens are hardly available at present.

‘Happy Times’ will be released by Artsploitation Films in Q1 2020.

M-Appeal has closed North American deals on two of the most prominent titles on its virtual Marché slate.

The Berlin-based sales outfit confirmed that Artsploitation Films has acquired Michael Mayer’s Happy Times, a horror comedy set over the course of a Shabbat dinner in a luxurious Hollywood mansion. Mixing satire and genre elements, the film stars Israeli actor Michael Aloni (Shtisel) and Stéfi Celma.

Happy Times is produced by Mayer, Paola Porrini Bisson and Tomer Almagor. Executive producers are Gabrielle Almagor, Richard Bisson and Erri De Luca. Artsploitation plans...

Variety has been given exclusive access to the Imax trailer, dubbed into English, to Fedor Bondarchuk’s sci-fi actioner “Invasion,” the sequel to his 2017 blockbuster “Attraction.”

In the first film Moscow becomes the battleground for all-out war against an army of alien invaders. In the sequel, an alien spaceship crash lands in Moscow, and an ordinary girl gains superpowers that make her the focus of study in secret government labs. But it’s not only the humans who are interested in her new powers, and she will have to decide which side she is on.

The cast includes Irina Starshenbaum, Rinal Mukhametov, Alexander Petrov and Yuriy Borisov. The script is written by Andrew Zolotarev and Oleg Malovichko. Sony Pictures will release the film, produced by Bondarchuk’s Art Pictures Studio, in Russia and Cis on Jan. 1, 2020. In January it will be released in Germany, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Ex-Yugoslavia, Сyprus and Israel.

Mars Media, Art Pictures Studios and Metrafilms among Russian companies unveiling projects.

Russian companies with new projects are out in force at Tiff supported for the first time by a new umbrella stand called Created In Moscow/Moscow Export Centre.

Mars Media is launching family adventure project A Dog Named Palm, to be directed by debut filmmaker Alexander Domogarov. Viktor Doronravov from T-34 is set to star. Japan’s Heisei Projecta is co-producing.

Art Pictures Studios is showing footage of Fedor Bondarchuk’s sci- fi sequel, Attraction 2, a co-production with Vodorod.

Metrafilms is introducing buyers to Kirill Sokolov’s action title No Looking Back,...

The first ‘Attraction’ film took $1m in Latin America in 2017.

Latin American distributor Bf Distribution has acquired rights for the territory to Fyodor Bondarchuk’s sci-fi title Attraction 2.

After the title was presented at the Marché du Film in Cannes this month, the deal was struck with producers Art Pictures.

Bf, which currently operates in Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina, is planning a theatrical release for 2020.

Attraction 2 centres on Julia, an ordinary girl who gains superpowers after an alien spaceship crashes in Moscow, and attracts the attention of the Ministry of Defence.

Bondarchuk’s first Attraction title made $1m...

The first ‘Attraction’ film took $1m in Latin America in 2017.

Latin American distributor Bf Distribution has acquired rights for the territory to Fyodor Bondarchuk’s sci-fi title Attraction 2.

After the title was presented at the Marché du Film in Cannes this month, the deal was struck with producers Art Pictures.

Bf, which currently operates in Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina, is planning a theatrical release for 2020.

Attraction 2 centres on Julia, an ordinary girl who gains superpowers after an alien spaceship crashes in Moscow, and attracts the attention of the Ministry of Defence.

Bondarchuk’s first Attraction title made $1m...

Cannes — Russian director Fedor Bondarchuk introduced four new productions from his Art Pictures Studio Saturday in Cannes, including “Attraction 2,” the sequel to his 2017 sci-fi blockbuster.

The invitation-only showcase at the Gray d’Albion hotel also unveiled footage from three new features that Bondarchuk is either directing or producing. Sci-fi thriller “Sputnik” is the story of a Russian cosmonaut who returns to earth with an alien inside him; “Ice 2” explores a tragic event that shatters the picture-perfect marriage of a top ice hockey player and a renowned figure skater; and “Fyodor Konyukhov” is an animated feature about a Russian explorer’s solo air balloon voyage around the world.

The films offered the latest evidence of Bondarchuk’s ambitions to break out of the Russian market. “Art Pictures produces films for a wide audience,” he told Variety after the presentation. The company’s global sales, he noted, have been steadily rising in recent years,...

The Second War War film grossed $10.6m in first four days.

Russian Second World War tank movie T-34 has become the most successful local film of all time to open at the Russian box office.

The film, released by Central Partnership, grossed $10.6m (713m roubles) over the four-day weekend from from January 3-6, a sizeable increase on the previous record set by Oleg Stepchenko’s fantasy film, Viy which grossed $9m ( 602m roubles) on its opening weekend in 2014.

With T-34 driving growth early 2019 growth, media measurement specialist Comscore confirmed the lucrative holiday season in Russia that ran from Janaury 1-...