Russian distributors postponed Spider-Man to clear the way for ‘Kolobok.’ In St. Petersburg, the seats are still empty.

Five screenings of Posledniy Bogatyr: Kolobok took place in St. Petersburg theaters on August 7 without any ticket sales, according to local outlet Rotonda. The film attracted no viewers on August 9 and 10 in 28 auditoriums each day. St. Petersburg cinemas have continued to screen the movie daily, with Cinema Park Grand Canyon on Prospekt Prosveshcheniya setting 26 screenings for the day.

A source at a major theater chain told Rotonda that theaters remain empty due to fear that distributors might withhold copies of Prostokvashino and Cheburashka, causing significant financial losses. Distributors had anticipated an "empty" release window but failed to do so. Following low ticket sales, distributors began offering special screenings with the cast, starting a week after release, unlike the usual pre-screening practice.

Posledniy Bogatyr: Kolobok premiered in Russian theaters on August 6. Distributors pressured theaters to delay the screening of Spider-Man: New Day, which was set to release through Russia's gray-market theatrical channels around the same time. The postponement of Spider-Man drew criticism against Kolobok's creators, and the film's rating on aggregator sites plummeted.

State TV channel Rossiya-24 filed complaints with prosecutors and the Investigative Committee over online threats to the film's creators. A criminal case has been initiated following a death threat, according to Russian news channel Ostorozhno Novosti. Kolobok earned over 244.5 million rubles in its opening weekend, considered a summer 2026 record.

Lyuksor theater chain representatives told Podem that box office success depends on various factors, including media buzz and the number of screenings. Meduza, the outlet reporting this story, emphasizes transparency in its use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom, with this English-language account written by a human journalist and translated from Russian using an AI model adhering to strict editorial standards.