Twilight was Russia’s highest-grossing film in September: the rerelease of the first installment of the saga, originally released in 2008, brought in 340 million rubles. The film returned to theaters on September 17 and outperformed the month’s new releases. According to the Unified Federal Automated Information System of the Cinema Fund, this is the first time since official tracking began in 2015 that an older film, rather than a new release, has topped the monthly box office.
An Older Release Outperformed New Films
How Ivan Got into a Fairy Tale came in second, grossing 296 million rubles. The Ninth Planet took in 183 million rubles. Both new releases therefore earned less than Twilight, which had returned to theaters.
The gap between the leader and How Ivan Got into a Fairy Tale was 44 million rubles, while Twilight outgrossed The Ninth Planet by 157 million. These figures show the scale of the film’s lead in September’s rankings, but by themselves do not explain why audiences chose it over new releases.
What the Box Office Tracking System Records
The Cinema Fund’s Unified Federal Automated Information System has tracked box office receipts at Russian cinemas since 2015. Within that period, Twilight’s performance marked the first time a film from an earlier year, rather than a new release, finished in first place for the month.
The rerelease date matters for comparison: Twilight arrived in theaters on September 17, not at the start of the month. Despite this, the film ended September ahead of the two new releases mentioned above. Box office figures make it possible to compare earnings, but do not justify attributing the film’s lead to a single cause.
Who Came to the Rerelease
Viewers aged 18 to 24 made up almost half of the audience for the rerelease at Russian cinemas. Maria Shcherbal, director of the research company Wanta Group, shared this estimate with RBC. It points to a significant share of young adults among moviegoers, but does not reveal the exact number of viewers.
Shcherbal also described the channels through which some audience members learned about the screenings. In the second week, 36% of viewers said they had heard about them on social media, while 29% named friends and acquaintances; one in five cited recommendations as one reason for going to the cinema. These figures describe audience responses; they do not prove that any one channel on its own secured the film’s box-office lead.
More Rereleases Are Planned
The return of the first installment will not be the saga’s only rerelease: Russian cinemas plan to screen the remaining Twilight films from October through February. The supplied data do not give the specific release dates, so it is not yet possible to assess how they will perform.
September’s results provide a clear benchmark for the upcoming screenings: the first film grossed 340 million rubles, ahead of films that took in 296 million and 183 million rubles. But these figures cover one month and one film; they do not guarantee that the other installments will achieve the same result.
Bottom line: With 340 million rubles in earnings, Twilight became the first older film to top Russia’s monthly box office during the Cinema Fund’s tracking period, which began in 2015.
Sources
- meduza.io — “The Month’s Highest-Grossing Film in Russia Was”
- rbc.ru — “For the First Time, It Led Russia’s Monthly Box Office”
- gazeta.ru — “Twilight Became the Month’s Highest-Grossing Film in”
- daily.afisha.ru — “2008’s Twilight Became the Highest-Grossing Film”
- kino.mail.ru — “Twilight Unexpectedly Made Russia’s Top Ten Box-Office Films”
