Russian movie theaters' box office receipts exceed 20 bln rubles since start of year - Russian culture minister

MOSCOW. May 29 (Interfax) - The box office receipts of Russian movie theaters have exceeded 21.2 billion rubles since the beginning of this year, Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova said.

"The box office receipts of the Russian Federation's movie theaters have exceeded 21.2 billion rubles since the beginning of 2023, [which is equal to] 57% of all movie theaters' box office receipts in 2022. In less than five months of 2023, movie theaters' box office receipts reached 16.7 billion rubles, which exceeds the annual box office receipts of domestic movie theaters for the past eight years," Lyubimova was quoted as saying in a report published on the ministry's website.

The biggest contribution in 2023 was made by the family film Cheburashka, which brought in 6.8 billion rubles, the report said. A box office hit Russia, the film accounted for 41% of box office receipts from Russian movies and 32% of total box office receipts from all movies screened in Russia in January-May 2023.

The second biggest box office hit in January-May 2023 was the space blockbuster The Challenge, which provided the industry with 1.6 billion rubles.