To get into the fairy tale: in Russia will shoot a new "Umka" and spin-off about Merry Woo
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- To get into the fairy tale: in Russia will shoot a new "Umka" and spin-off about Merry Woo
Spin-off "One Hundred Years To Go" about Alexander Petrov's hero "Veselchak U", "The Adventures of Old Man Hottabych" with Fyodor Bondarchuk and a sequel to the not yet even released "The Wizard of Emerald City". In the Cinema Fund on November 26 was held in-person defense of projects from eight studios-majors. A total of 17 films were presented. There were new potential box office blockbusters, and those that have already claimed for support, among them "Cheburashka 2", "Gorynych", "Birth of an Empire" and "Battle of the Motors". "Izvestia" chose the most curious projects, about which the producers told for the first time.
Fabulous content does not let go of filmmakers
The first thing that can be deduced from the past pitching the Cinema Fund - the realization that the Russian audience will not part with fairy tales and remakes of Soviet (cartoon) films for at least two or three years. Nine of the 17 projects presented are pictures for family viewing. The fact that demand gives birth to supply, confirm the figures: of the eight highest-grossing domestic films in 2024 (from the EAIS rating we took those tapes whose total collections crossed the threshold of 1 billion rubles), five are fairy tale content.
It is probably no coincidence that the pitching studio-major opened the presentation of the movie "How Ivan got into a fairy tale" from the studio "TriTe" Nikita Mikhalkov. The main character is a 12-year-old boy who goes to school and does not like, does not read, does not believe, unlike Russian movie producers, in Russian fairy tales. He's more interested in social media, comic books and fantasy heroes from other cultures. But everything changes when he falls into a magic chest and finds himself in a magical world whose task is to explain to young Ivan that fairy tales, though false, have hints and life lessons.
The new project is being worked on by almost the same team that created the feature-length "Bremen Musicians". Director and scriptwriter - Alexei Nuzhny, and in the cast are already familiar faces: Maria Aronova, Irina Gorbacheva and Julia Peresild. They will play fairy-tale Mother Pechka, Yablonka and Kiselnaya River, respectively. The king will be Viktor Sukhorukov, and the main role of Ivan will perform Miron Provorov, remembered as a small troubadour from the same "Bremen Musicians". The creators promise a large field project, shooting which will take place in the Caucasus, and in the Arkhangelsk, Tula and Nizhny Novgorod regions. The advantage of the new movie - star cast and departure from a direct remake of a particular fairy tale: a set of characters, the picture, rather, potpourri. However, after the super-successful "The Last Bogatyrs" to surprise the viewer with such a concept will not be so easy.
Another project from the fairy tale cycle - "The Adventures of Old Man Hottabych" from Art Pictures. It seems that after "Lord of the Wind" Fyodor Bondarchuk is addicted to heroes with beards, because the role of the wizard in the new project will be performed by him. For all other characters are active casting, said producer Denis Baglai. The new tape - not a direct adaptation of the story Lazar Lagina and not quite a remake of the Soviet tape Gennady Kazansky.
- The characters are old, but at the same time completely new. And the story itself will be different from what we remember from the last movie. We want to combine two worlds: the world of modern Moscow, where our heroes get acquainted, and add a great journey to the homeland of old man Hottabych in the ancient eastern city, where he himself was still a genie, not imprisoned in the lamp - he said.
The screenwriter was Andrei Zolotarev, and the director - Nikita Vlasov, the director of the series "Lada Gold" and "Combination". Filming will take place in Dagestan, Moscow and probably Uzbekistan. However, the creators of the project do not exclude that will involve a new film park "Moskino", where they will build a large set of the eastern city. The budget of the film is stated at 900 million rubles. The premiere of "The Adventures of Old Man Hottabych" is scheduled for January 1, 2027.
Another announced new reading of the well-known story - full-length "Umka". The project will be directed by Maxim Peshkov. In the Dreamcast Milos Bikovich, Marina Kravets, Pavel Derevyanko, Maxim Lagashkin and Alan Babayarov as little Tyke. Polar bears will also be there, but drawn in CGI. The creators plan to spend 500 million rubles on visual effects alone.
- I tried to remember all the lullabies I sang as a child, but I found out that Umka's lullaby is the only one I remember from beginning to end. And I think all the people in this room would say the same thing. You remember that lullaby, your children remember that lullaby. And let's give this story a chance to resound in 2069. So that in 100 years our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will also grow up on the right lullabies, - said the producer of the movie Tina Kandelaki, presenting the project at the Cinema Fund.
One of the major potential box office hits presented at the pitching was "Funny Woo." On the wave of success of the sci-fi blockbuster "One Hundred Years Ago" (1.5 billion rubles in total collections), the studio "Hydrogen" decided to develop the franchise and conceived a spin-off about the "good antagonist", a noble pirate played by Alexander Petrov.
- Let you not be frightened by the imaginary death of this hero in the previous part. This is just a wrong scenario of the dark future. We corrected it, and our hero Merry Woo is still in Chertanovsky school, just defeated by Kira Selezneva and tricked by his sidekick Glot. From there begins the point of his new story, - said the producer and director Alexander Andryushchenko.
The premiere of the film is scheduled for April 15, 2027, the script for the spin-off will also write Andrei Zolotarev. To the role of Merry W will return Alexander Petrov, to whom the creators promised to throw in this project a lot of new challenges. With the previous Petrov coped quite well, his Merry in "One Hundred Years Ago" really turned out to be one of the most interesting and bright. And the charisma of the actor himself successfully got into the image of his character. But still, to bring a minor, even if it is such a bright hero in the foreground - the task is not easy. Examples when it failed, plenty. It is not clear yet, whether the audience in the new movie will see characters from "One Hundred Years Ago" - the same Kira Selezneva played by Victoria Isakova or Glot, played by Yura Borisov.
Battle of Yura Borisov and Ivan Yankovsky
Here is where exactly the audience will see Borisov, so it is in the sports retro-drama "Battle of the Motors". Despite the fact that the project has already been submitted to the Cinema Fund, stands out its ambitious collaboration, conceived by film companies "Central Partnership", "Kinoslovo" and director Ilya Malanin. Two of the most sought-after contemporary Russian artists have been signed for the lead roles: Ivan Yankovsky has joined Borisov.
The film will tell the story of the creation of the legendary domestic car "Russo-Balt" in the early XX century and his victory in the "Rally Monte Carlo" length of more than 3 thousand kilometers from St. Petersburg to Monaco. Yankovsky will play a pilot Andrei Nagel, Borisov - design engineer Dmitry Bondarev, who led the development of the first racing "bolide" in the Russian Empire. In the role of the beloved Nagel will act Paulina Andreeva.
Shooting scenes in Paris and Monaco will take place in Serbia and Montenegro. "We always try not to do historicism in its purest form, but to stylize it in a more modern way," - said Peter Anurov, producer of the film "Silver Skates" and the upcoming film "Prophet. The Story of Alexander Pushkin." At the same time, cars became the most difficult task in the production of the picture. "Russo-Baltov", which will be involved in the movie, no longer exist. Draw them with the help of computer graphics in the frame will not work, because they must participate in the race and perform stunts. Design Bureau of Igor Ermilin from scratch makes for the picture six samples of these machines, which will be fully controllable.
Announced "Central Partnership" and the sequel to "The Wizard of Emerald City". It will be called "The Wizard of Emerald City. The Wicked Witch" and will be a direct continuation of the adventures of Ellie and her friends: dog Totoshka, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion and Scarecrow. Now the company is on its way to the no less fabulous Violet City, the lair of the witch Bastinda, who, as in the first part, will be played by Svetlana Khodchenkova. Igor Voloshin will continue to establish himself in the big commercial movie, so he will direct the second part. Producers gave the director of arthouse "Nirvana" and "Bedouin" great credit. His "The Wizard of Emerald City" has yet to open the New Year's Eve battle on January 1, 2025, but after the release of the trailer, there is little doubt that this picture will be the first billion-dollar movie of the year. Fairy tales have remained the main driver of the Russian box office for three years now. But questions arise about how soon viewers will become saturated with such content and what to watch for those who are not in the audience for children's and family content.
