Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Russian cinemas have been in a gray state. 41% of cinemas have even had to close since the beginning of 2022, according to the Russian press agency. And for good reason: A large portion of American movies are no longer available for legal distribution in the country. Studios like Warner, Sony or Disney have decided to cancel the release of all their films in Russia until further notice.
Never mind Russian cinemas, which have decided to resort to piracy as an emergency solution. For several months now, some cinemas, such as in St. Petersburg or Yekaterinburg, have been using copies of illegally downloaded films. Some operators have also managed to get movies in Digital Cinema Packages, the standard format intended for darkrooms.
Copies of Avatar 2 donated by Kazakhstan
The practice, however, intensified with the release of James Cameron’s second Avatar opus. As the specialized site TorrentFreak and the Russian independent media Meduza reveal, several Russian establishments have tried at all costs to get copies of the long-awaited blockbuster.
Some theaters even prepared to show clandestine recordings of the film. However, they were able to resort to high-quality copies, donated by friendly countries such as Kazakhstan. It was not disclosed how these files were exchanged. According to Alexei Voronkov, president of the Russian Association of Cinema Owners, this practice has become essential.
However, this illegal technique is not used by all cinemas. The establishments have also decided to postpone their screening of Avatar 2 to January 13, 2023, to favor Russian productions during the end of the year, when the industry usually registers its peak attendance.
Source: BFM TV
