To be a fairy tale: the film with Efremov became the leader of the Russian film distribution

Attendance at Russian cinemas did not show any growth last weekend and remained at the lowest level this year, which had a noticeable effect on box office receipts. The best novelty of the weekend was the fairy tale "The Nightingale against Muromets" with Nikita Efremov, which earned 55 million rubles. Kraken with Sasha Petrov, who overcame a billion in total fees, moved to the second place. Izvestia — the results of the Russian film distribution last weekend.

"Nightingale vs Muromets" topped the box office

The best novelty of the past weekend was expected to be the fairy tale "The Nightingale against Muromets" with Nikita Efremov in the role of the robber. This is not the first time director Karen Oganesyan has addressed the genre and the idea of time travel. In 2022, his "The Terrible Pope" was released about the adventures of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich in our present. The new work is a synthesis of folklore and cyberreality. Long-time opponents Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber meet here again in a duel, but now in the images of robots. According to the EAIS, the film earned 55 million rubles in its debut weekend. This was enough to place myself on the first line of the box office, but the start was not the most successful. Cinema attendance dropped sharply a week earlier and still stands at 0.8 million viewers.

— Sales of the family fantasy "Nightingale vs Muromets" starring Nikita Efremov and Vladimir Lyubimtsev are comparable to the launch of a similar release "Baba Yaga Saves the World". Next weekend's film may compete with the Chinese cartoon Nezha Defeats the Dragon King, the highest—grossing animation in China, which in Russia will attract not only a family audience, but also cinephiles interested in the phenomenon of the project, says Olga Zinyakova, president of the KARO cinema chain.

The fantastic drama "Kraken" with Alexander Petrov about the meeting of submariners with a giant monster returned to the second line of the box office. The film added another 43.6 million rubles to its account and surpassed the billion mark in total fees. The audience's interest is also confirmed by the average number of viewers per session — 13 people, while the rental leader has 10.

— The blockbuster with Alexander Petrov leads to a great sundress. "Kraken" is the most ambitious project in the Russian box office over the past month and a half, it is not surprising that it remains at the top. In addition to the cast, the name of Nikolai Lebedev, the director of Legend No. 17 and The Crew, added points to the film. The release time is even higher than that of the weekend leader, which still indicates its relevance and potential to increase the box office further. There aren't many action films at the box office, and Kraken closes this gap," Olga Zinyakova told Izvestia.

The Russian animated film "Hansel and Gretel: The Sleeping Beauty Mission" started from the third place in the film distribution. It is the sequel to the 2021 comedy story "Hansel, Gretel and the Agency of Magic," which was sold to Netflix. The heroes of the Brothers Grimm work here for the top-secret Department of Magical Security. In the first episode, agents investigated the mysterious disappearance of the King. Now they must find out who plunged the princess into an enchanted dream. At the start, the novelty earned 25 million rubles. For the 2021 cartoon, the result in the first weekend was about the same — 28 million rubles.

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Completing the top 5 are the military drama "Not on the list" about the defenders of the Brest Fortress and the romantic comedy "There" starring Peter Fedorov and Irina Starshenbaum as a taxi driver and passenger traveling from Moscow to Ufa. The first brought about another 25 million rubles to the box office, the second - 13 million—

Next, on the sixth line of the box office, is the new domestic comedy "A Couple for a Couple" by Vladimir Kott. In the center of the plot is a teacher named Kostya, from whom his wife left for another man. To get her back, he gets closer to the daughter of the same man. As a result, all four find themselves under the same roof. The creators have assembled an attractive acting ensemble. Starring Dmitry Chebotarev, Irina Gorbacheva, Alexander Robak, Ulyana Zhang. But it didn't help to get into the lead and get ahead of the old guys of the rental. The film earned only 9 million rubles over the weekend and showed the lowest average attendance of four people per session.

"Foster brilliantly played the most unexpected role in recent years"

The highest working time — 25 people per session — is for the short film "Sclerosis", which closes the top 10. Together with her, the new Marvel hit "Thunderbolts*", the horror "Live until Dawn", the sixth installment of the "Destination" franchise with the subtitle "Blood Ties" and the sequel to the thriller "A Simple Request" — "Another simple Request" starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively are currently being shown as part of the pre-screening. The only foreign film in the top of the domestic box office that is officially rolling out in Russia is the Canadian psychological thriller "A Sharp Turn" starring Ben Foster, whom the viewer may remember for his role as the main villain in "Hostage" starring Bruce Willis and the star of the sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" Cobie Smulders. He took the 12th place with 6 million rubles over the weekend.

— The market has adapted to the interests of the Russian audience, the rental is filled with domestic releases in various genres, especially among the family audience, — explains Olga Zinyakova.

"A Sharp Turn" received mostly positive reviews from foreign critics.

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"Foster and Smulders have expertly brought a good idea to life, creating a psychological thriller that tickles the nerves and a family drama that is shamelessly devastating," writes Kristy Puchko in Mashable.

"Foster, one of the most outstanding actors in modern cinema, brilliantly played perhaps the most unexpected role in recent years," notes Matt Koller Seitz in the material RogerEbert.com .

Next weekend will give the audience several releases that have a chance to compete for the box office. In addition to the acclaimed Chinese animated film "Nezha Defeats the Dragon King," the thriller "Last Tomorrow" starring Weekend musician and Wednesday star Jenna Ortega and the new horror film by Australian directors Danny and Michael Philippou "Bring Her Back from the Dead," with whom Izvestia recorded an interview, will be released.