Russia Box Office to Increase by 9.6 Percent in 2013

MOSCOW – In line with previous forecasts, Russia's 2013 total box office gross is to increase to 43.2 billion rubles ($1.4 billion), while the share of local films is set to increase to 17.4 percent.

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The research company Movie Research predicts that this year’s total box office gross is likely to increase by 9.6 percent from last year’s 39.4 billion rubles ($1.28 billion), while the total number of admissions is to go up by 2.6 percent to 180 million.

According to Movie Research’s managing partner Oleg Ivanov, the growth is to continue but it is unlikely to be as substantial as in previous years, and will be mostly achieved thanks to continued increases in ticket prices. In 2013, the average movie ticket price is projected to reach 240 rubles ($7.8).

Meanwhile, the proportion of local films’ gross in the total box office is to increase – to 17.4 percent from last year’s figure of 15.1 percent, which is still below expectations of the industry and the government.

Movie Research said that one of the main problems that the Russian film industry is facing is the fact that only 40 million Russians have access to movie theaters, while only 10 percent of those account for active viewers. To ensure sustainable growth in the industry, the total number of local releases has to reach 150, of which about 20 movies need to generate at least 1.5 million admissions, the company said.