Chinese service: Nezha in Russia, Bigfoot and The Weeknd

The main event in the global film industry, the most successful cartoon in history and the highest—grossing film of 2025, as well as proof of the triumph of the Chinese industry, Nezha Defeats the Dragon King is being released in Russia. Let's remind that Izvestia was the first to report this back in February, and now the time has come. But in the Russian box office, the leader of the weekend, according to analysts, will still not be him, but the domestic comedy "Bigfoot". It is possible that other rental rivals will collect more. Izvestia appreciated the novelties of this weekend and tell us what is worth watching in the cinema.

"Nezha defeats the Dragon King" 12+

Director: Yang Yu

The highest-grossing film of the year, Nezha, is likely to remain that way, with no competitors expected in the coming months. The Chinese cartoon forced viewers all over the world to learn the unusual name of the main character, a small demon with a disgusting character. Now the total box office of this cartoon is almost $1.9 billion. Another thing is that they are almost all assembled in China, and outside the country, Nezha remains a completely niche project. In the United States, the cartoon still somehow scored $20 million, but in most other territories its box office is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, hence the paradox: although it is the highest-grossing film in the world, it is really unpopular in the world. Minecraft is popular, it's really watched everywhere, it's objectively the top release of the year.

Nezhi doesn't have enough advertising, and the major movie theater chains obviously don't really believe in it. It lasts for two hours, the age rating is 12+, but in fact, it is not always easy for an adult viewer to figure out what is happening on the screen. Although structurally the story is very simple: a small but evil Nezha wants to undergo an initiation rite from the heavenly forces, gain immortality and solve a number of his problems. And the war is raging all around, everyone is betraying each other, everyone is not who they think they are. And Nezha is no exception either. And although everything looks very spectacular, the large number of characters and the complicated relationship between them do not allow you to relax and enjoy the film. But the fact that it was released in Russia is a big event and requires special attention.

"Peer" 18+

Directed by Fyodor Kudryavtsev. Starring: Yuri Vershinin, Anna Mikhalkova, Alexander Yatsenko, Sergey Abroskin, Daniil Spivakovsky

The full-fledged distribution of the film will begin only on June 12, but already this week such a series of special screenings begins in different cities that, in fact, it can also be considered rental. Moreover, according to a model that has been working in Europe and the USA for a long time, but is rarely used here. It's about turning the film into an event through the creation of a "sundress" so that when it goes on regular rental, every dog knows about it. This once worked most effectively with the film "Alive" by Alexander Veledinsky, an art drama that eventually became one of the ten highest-grossing Russian films of the year.

In this case, this is the right strategy, because Rovesnik is an experimental mockumentary where AI and deepfakes are actively used. And this is not a disadvantage of the film, but its feature. In the story, a guy from the Moscow State University journalism faculty finds old videotapes from the 90s, where there are a lot of amateur filming. After analyzing the archive (this is what critics call found footage), he learns the truth about his father, who came up with a powerful Internet startup thirty years ago, and then everything was bad. By parodying documentaries about the 90s, the film's authors "rejuvenated" Russian actors to show what their characters did in the 90s. And it turned out so wittily that the film made a lot of noise at the Window to Europe festival last year.

"Bigfoot" 6+

Directed by Oleg Asadulin. Starring: Sergey Staikin, Vladimir Steklov, Stepan Devonin, Katerina Shpitsa

The strangest thing about this release is the name. Who, why and how came up with the idea to write it as if it were related to Vyacheslav Polunin's "Snow Show", one of the most successful performances not only in Russia, but also in the world. And the first thought that comes to mind when you see the title of the film is that Polunin made either a sequel, a spin—off, or somehow continued the universe with sad clowns.

What a disappointment it is when it turns out that there is no Polunin and no clowns here. And there is just a yeti made on a computer, and there is a Russian family where he ended up. This snowman becomes a friend of a schoolboy named Miron, who has problems with his peers because of his hearing aid. You don't have to go much further, the plot of "Alien" has been retold more than once over the past forty years. So far, the film has a chance to top the weekend box office, because it's an obvious family movie and it has at least some advertising. But forecasts, even in this scenario, give the film no more than 50 million rubles over the weekend.

"Jane Austen ruined my life" 18+

Directed by Laura Piani. Starring: Camille Rutherford, Pablo Poli, Charlie Anson, Annabel Langronn

It is a pity that the distributors in Russia did not manage to achieve a lower rating for this film. Moreover, even the name of the painting sets it up to be attended mainly by schoolgirls who read Jane Austen and want more. The heroine is played by Camille Rutherford, we saw her in "The Life of Adele," one of the best French films of the last decade, which made stars of almost everyone who had to do with it.

This very heroine comes to England to engage in writing, and there she is waiting not so much for literary impressions as for a relationship filled with numerous nuances with two men. You'll have to choose the most worthy of them, but the fact of the matter is that both of them are very interesting and pleasant people in all respects. This is where the experience of Jane Austen comes in handy, who led the characters through a thorny path of attention to detail, ambiguity, and trust in a fickle fate that often chooses the most original and unexpected scenario.

"The last tomorrow" 18+

Directed by Trey Edward Schultz. Starring: The Weeknd, Jenna Ortega, Barry Keoghan, Paul L. Davis

The triple punch was supposed to be flawless. Jenna Ortega is the star of "Wednesday," a girl whose dance has been learned by everyone who watches TV shows and who loves Tim Burton. Barry Keoghan is the smash of all cinephiles and just one of the brightest artists of auteur cinema today, the geniuses of festival cinema are in line behind him, but Hollywood is also hanging around in the same queue, everyone wants Keoghan in their project. And, of course, The Weeknd, one of the most successful musicians on the planet, who turns any sound into gold, or even platinum.

King Midas of the music industry, unfortunately, lost his charms on the screen, the film "The Last Tomorrow" failed miserably in his homeland, in the USA. With an already small budget of $15 million, he earned only $5 million in theaters. To be honest, there are not many chances that he will be more successful in Russia, in principle, it's hard to rent a movie in the summer if it's not a family movie or something super-long-awaited, like Nolan's "Argument" at the time (although it failed, as we remember). Nevertheless, it's great that the film has reached Russian cinemas, because it's really an original psychedelic thriller about a musician and, let's say, a muse, and then it's up to the viewer to decide whether he wants to pay money for it.