🧮 The Cinema Fund Miscalculated
The 2025 box office results exposed a serious gap between budget spending and audience interest.
Out of 35 films that received non-repayable subsidies from the Cinema Fund, only four managed to break even commercially.
The biggest hit was The Wizard of Emerald City, which grossed 3.3 billion rubles on a budget of 978 million. Also profitable were Finist. The First Bogatyr and The Prophet. The Story of Alexander Pushkin.
Around a third of the projects failed to meet expectations. For example, Hotel “Onegin”, fully financed with a 125 million ruble state subsidy, earned just 90 thousand at the box office, while the animated film To the Trash brought in only 1 million against 300 million in costs.
Despite the low profitability of many titles, experts stress their importance for preserving the national “cultural code”. In 2026, state support will only increase: the Cinema Fund will receive 10.4 billion rubles, and the Ministry of Culture a further 3.8 billion to back 40 new releases.
