"The Last Warrior: Kolobok" is on track for a disappointing opening in Russian cinemas after distributors delayed the shadow release of "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" to clear the way for the domestic film's 6 August premiere, sparking a wave of online backlash.
In mid-July, the Association of Cinema Owners and distributor Atmosfera Kino urged Russian cinema chains to push back the unofficial release of the new Spider-Man film by two weeks so that "Kolobok" could open without competition. The move was met with criticism from the start, and anger intensified in early August as the film's release date approached.
Much of the hostility was directed at the film's cast and crew, who had no involvement in the distributor's scheduling decision.
Cast and crew respond to backlash
Members of the production reacted differently to the criticism on social media. Garik Kharlamov, who plays the title character, said he preferred Batman and jokingly threatened to delay the release of the next Avengers film.
Director Anton Maslov took the backlash more personally and engaged directly with critics online, including one commenter who worked as an electrician and had criticized the film's visual effects. Maslov declined to comment when approached by BFM.RU.
Weak presales at the box office
The public anger has already hit ticket sales. Presales were extremely low the day before the premiere. At Moscow's only IMAX screen, located in the Kapitoliy shopping centre, not a single ticket had been sold for any of the five premiere screenings.
The trend suggests "Kolobok" may fail to reach one billion rubles, the benchmark typically hit by Russian fairytale blockbusters in recent years.
Critics question the film itself
Artem Gasparov, a philologist, film critic and author of the Telegram channel "Kulturny Spektr," said this was not the first time a highly anticipated film had been pushed back to accommodate a domestic release, even an informal one. He said audiences had grown tired of looking forward to a long-awaited blockbuster only to see a Russian alternative appear with visual effects many disliked, adding that the issue was less about the film itself than about it being the cause of the schedule change.
Gasparov said he personally disliked "Kolobok," arguing it was less a fairytale than a parody black comedy aimed at viewers aged 30 to 40 rather than children, with jokes and psychological themes unsuitable for a young audience. He said the film lacked balance and pacing, and that if forced to choose between "Kolobok" and "Smeshariki: Through the Universes," which also opened on 6 August, he considered the "Smeshariki" film a far more interesting and multifaceted fairytale blockbuster.
On the review aggregator Kinoafisha, "Kolobok"'s rating collapsed even before release, with the film sitting at one star out of five alongside hundreds of negative reviews.
A battle it could not win
Alexander Golubchikov, editor-in-chief of the film portal Zoomfilm, said "Kolobok" should never have entered a fight it could not win. He said presales for the first days of release stood at around 10 million rubles, calling it a worrying sign.
Golubchikov said backlash sometimes benefits a film by generating conversation, pointing to "The Odyssey" as an example, but said that was not the case here. He said Russian audiences still carried a degree of prejudice against domestic cinema, which made it reckless to pit "Kolobok" directly against Spider-Man, especially during summer, traditionally a weak period for box office takings. He said the film could easily have been scheduled earlier.
Leaked promotional guidelines
The backlash was not eased by leaked instructions for "Kolobok"'s promotional campaign, published by trade outlet Cinemaplex. The guidelines reportedly bar any mention of earlier instalments in the "Last Warrior" franchise, which were produced jointly with Disney before the studio exited the Russian market.
Spider-Man's record-breaking run
Meanwhile, "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" has posted the second-best worldwide opening since "Avengers: Endgame." The film earned more than $1 billion at the global box office in just six days.
"The Last Warrior: Kolobok" opened in wide release on 6 August with a 6+ age rating. The shadow release of the new Spider-Man film is set to begin on 20 August.
