Kings and skit: comedy about the new Shurik — at the top of the box office

A parody of a dozen Soviet folk comedies, the New Year's light "The Incredible Adventures of Shurik" topped the Russian box office. The film's collections over the past weekend amounted to 122 million rubles. It was followed by the comedy with Evgeny Tkachuk "Volchok", which earned 101 million rubles. The adventurous action game "Illusion of Deception 3" this time scored 75 million rubles, and its closest competitor was the animated collection "Three Cats. Time travel", 72 million rubles. In fifth place is the anime "Chainsaw Man. The film: The Story of Reza." Izvestia analyzes the box office receipts of Russian cinemas.

Jokes about Shura

Not all television formats take root on movie screens. In Russia, the best example of such a transfer remains "Christmas Trees" — by the way, the 12th part will be released this Thursday and will inevitably become a hit again. Now another New Year's light has tried its hand on the big screen: last weekend, "The Incredible Adventures of Shurik" became the leader of the Russian box office.

"This is the first New Year's Eve parody remake of Soviet films from the TNT team, which was released on big screens," Olga Zinyakova, president of the KARO cinema chain, told Izvestia. — The audience managed to get used to the television format, which helped earn the credibility to show new items in cinemas. Nevertheless, the recognizable cast, nostalgia, and media support for the release played a crucial role here.

A kind of guide to the classics of Soviet comedies, this skit is through cute parodies of the beloved masterpieces of Gaidai, Ryazanov, Danelia and many other legends of Russian cinema. The stars of modern show business are happy to fool around, reproducing scenes and dialogues that millions of viewers of several generations know by heart. True, it is generally assumed that this audience is mostly of an age group, but the box office results of the comedy about Shurik show that the calculation for the fanbase of Russian celebrities turned out to be correct.

— We can say that this is a very "adult" release, — Maria Shcherbal, CEO of Wanta Group — consulting in cinema, explained to Izvestia. — We see that a large proportion of 35+ viewers went there, almost 38%, and only 6% of the youth aged 12-17 went there. That is, 60 to 40 in favor of women, which is a good balance for such content. People mostly went in pairs (38%) or even alone (14%) — this is one of the highest rates for single views.

First of all, the film was watched because of the cast and as a remake, nostalgia for the classics was mentioned by 34% of viewers. The film did well in TV advertising, according to company surveys. It felt strongly nostalgic (22%) and uplifting (66%), and people appreciated the sense of humor and references. But there is also a downside, the expert notes: his share of critics is above average, 31%. One in ten said that the film turned out to be worse than expected, and 16% noted that they were "not hooked by anything."

— That is, we see a polar reaction: for some it is a warm nostalgic story, for others it is a remake that "fell short," summarizes Shcherbal.

"Three cats. Time travel"

"The Spinning Top" (101 million rubles) and "The Illusion of Deception 3" (75 million) are gradually going down, but they remain hits. Illusion maintains a high turnout, with an average of 18 people per session, the best figure in the top 5. This weekend, the film broke through to the third place among the highest-grossing films in Russia, pushing "The Prophet". Now his total fees amount to 1.671 billion rubles, only The Wizard of Oz and Finist earned more than him, but they had a head start — they worked during the New Year holidays. And the "Illusion of Deception" has collected more than a billion and a half in fair competition during the harsh autumn and winter days, which means that the viewer still lacks high-quality content.

The fourth place of the Russian box office is a collection of short stories "Three cats. Time travel." The creators decided not to bore the audience with a full-length story and relied on short sketches combined with one concept. Learning the details of their family's rich life experience, three cats and one kitty not only become wiser, but also help resolve quarrels in the spirit of Ivan Ivanovich and Ivan Nikiforovich.

— This is an absolutely family product, — says Maria Shcherbal. — 89% watched it with their family, 95% of the viewers came with their children. They celebrate commitment to family, friendship and mutual assistance. After watching it, people came out with a high mood and a sense of calm. This is a good—quality, predictable family cartoon that has fulfilled its purpose - to entertain the child and give parents a sense of the "right" content.

Since there are few products of this level on the Russian market, "Three Cats" can count on a good and long rental life. Now they have earned 72 million rubles, but the audience will continue to go further.

— The start of the new full—length part of "Three Cats" is on a par with the highest-grossing part of 2024 - "Three Cats. Winter holidays," Olga Zinyakova notes. — This makes it possible to predict that the total cash register will be similar.

"Vacations", we recall, earned more than 200 million rubles. Ticket prices are higher now, so Time Travel can assemble a more impressive box office, including making extra money on the holiday.

In fifth place at the box office is "Chainsaw Man. The film: The Story of Reza." This time it has 37 million rubles, and the total fees are almost 200 million, which is a very high result for anime in Russia, especially considering that this is not family content.