News

Well Go USA has nabbed North American rights to “Row 19,” a thriller from director Alexander Babaev, which is being sold by Central Partnership.

The film centers on a young female doctor and her 6-year-old daughter, who board an overnight flight in a violent storm. When passengers on the half-empty plane inexplicably begin to die, the woman’s grip on reality weakens and she is forced to relive her worst childhood nightmare. The film, which is slated for release in Russian cinemas on Nov. 11, has also sold to Latin America (Bf Distribution), South Korea (Cinema Black), Italy (Minerva Pictures), and the Middle East (Phars Filmco Motion Pictures).

“‘Row 19’ is a spine-tingling new entry to the genre that will prove quite capable of keeping audiences around the world at the edge of their seats, and we’re thrilled to team up with Central Partnership to bring the film to horror fans throughout North America,...

“The Pilot. A Battle for Survival” (Central Partnership)

Producers: Renat Davletyarov, Vlad Ryashin

Synopsis: December 1941, Northwestern Front. A German tank column is moving toward Moscow. During a mission to halt the enemy’s advance, Soviet pilot Nikolai Komlev’s plane is shot down behind enemy lines. Battling hunger and cold while evading packs of wolves and detachments of Nazi soldiers, the wounded pilot finally makes it back to safety. But there he faces another challenge, which will prove to be the most life-changing of all.

“The World Champion” (Central Partnership)

Producers: Alexey Sidorov, Nikita Mikhalkov, Rafael Minasbekyan, Leonid Vereshschagin

Synopsis: Some sporting triumphs are about more than just claiming a title. Some of them go down in history. A drama based on the legendary 1978 chess match between Soviet world champion Anatoly Karpov and the dissident Viktor Korchnoi. In this battle between two outstanding chess players (pictured), a duel of personalities under immense psychological pressure,...

Major Russian distributor Central Partnership wraps up European Film Market (EFM) with a bunch of global sales. “Chernobyl”, a high-budget actioner directed by Danila Kozlovsky, goes to China to air on iQIYI, and will also travel to Taiwan and European territories.

“Chernobyl” is the first major Russian film dedicated to the disaster and its aftermath. The story follows fireman Alexey, accompanied by an engineer and a military diver, on a perilous mission to drain water from a reservoir under the burning reactor. They descend into the depths of the reactor building, prepared to sacrifice their own lives to prevent an even greater catastrophe. “Chernobyl” stars actor-turned-director Danila Kozlovsky (“Vikings”), Oksana Akinshina, Philipp Avdeev and others.

“We tried to tell a powerful story of love between particular people, in a particular family, that happened in the times of a horrifying global-scale disaster. We are not trying to appoint who’s guilty or give a verdict,...

Central Partnership clinched several new deals on the project during the EFM.

Following last week’s EFM, leading Russian distributor Central Partnership has announced several new deals on its big budget action/disaster feature Chernobyl, directed by Danila Kozlovsky.

The film has gone to platform iQIYI for China in what Central Partnership CEO Vadim Vereshchagin described as “a big step towards promoting Russian cinema to international markets and [improving] our strategic partnership with China.”

Further deals clinched during the EFM include French-speaking Europe (Kinovista), Taiwan (Moviecloud), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Joj). These follow on from already announced sales to the US (MPI Media Group), South Korea,...

Russian heartthrob Danila Kozlovsky (“Vikings”) admits he “never wanted or thought to make a movie about Chernobyl.” But that changed the moment the actor-turned-director laid eyes on a script, written by Aleksey Kazakov and Elena Ivanova, for a big-budget action film about the aftermath of the nuclear power plant meltdown.

“When the synopsis came to me, I read one very strong scene and immediately saw how I could tell this story,” Kozlovsky says. “Just one scene influenced my decision. And it didn’t let me go anymore. With every book I read and every movie I watched, I wanted more and more to make this movie. This has already become…my artistic dream.”

Following on the heels of HBO’s Emmy-winning series, “Chernobyl” is being dubbed as the first major Russian feature film to depict the fallout of the explosion that rocked the nation and sent shockwaves across the globe.

The Widow: "This spring, prepare yourself for one of the most vicious, chilling backwoods terrors when the new supernatural thriller The Widow, directed by Svyatoslav Podgaevsky, debuts on major VOD and digital platforms and on DVD & Blu-ray on March 30, 2021 from Shout! Studios and Scream Factory™. The DVD & Blu-ray will contain both the original Russian language audio track and an English-dubbed option. Pre-order for the physical releases are available now at ShoutFactory.com and other fine home entertainment retailers.

Movie Synopsis:

In a densely forested area north of St. Petersburg, people have been going missing for three decades. Very few corpses were ever found, and the few that were recovered were naked. On October 14, 2017, a team of volunteers went out into the woods in search of a missing teenager. Soon, all communication with them was lost. Locals believe they were taken by the same dark spirit that took the others...

Exclusive: Chernobyl the big-budget Russian action drama about the titular nuclear disaster, has been acquired by Capelight Pictures for North America and German-speaking territories, with the company partnering with Mpi Media Group on the U.S. release.

Moscow-based sales agent Central Partnership continued sales efforts on the title during the Cannes online market last week, as well as the Russian Virtual Content Market earlier last month. The pic has now also sold to South Korea (PoongKyung), Latin America (Bf Distribution), Japan (Twin), Israel (Shoval Film), Spain (Mediaset) and Baltics (Latvian Theatrical Distribution).

“Chernobyl does a terrific job of educating audiences on such an important time in history. We are thrilled to be able to bring this film to North American screens,” said Hamza Ali, Executive Vice President, Mpi Media Group.

Billed as the first major Russian feature about the aftermath of the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power station, when...

Vadim Vereshchagin, CEO of leading Russian production and distribution company Central Partnership, says it’s time for the world to give a second look to Russian cinema—particularly the slick commercial titles that are racking up boffo box office back home.

“The key thing for us right now is to explain to the foreign buyers primarily, ‘Look, we’ve got great films. We’re not asking the same amount of money as Hollywood independent studios would. But you get the same [quality],’” he says.

Central Partnership began in the 1990s as a television production outfit, before branching out into distribution of mostly arthouse fare. In the early 2000s, it began moving toward mainstream titles, and since 2009 has been the exclusive distributor for Paramount Pictures in Russia. Its library includes films from top U.S. and European studios, as well as an extensive catalog of arthouse and commercial Russian movies.

The company’s current slate,...

The film has become the highest-grossing Russian film of all time with box office of $48 million since its release in December.

Leading Russian sales agent and distributor Central Partnership has sold its new comedy Son Of A Rich to Chinese streaming giant iQiyi.

Son Of A Rich, a market premiere in Berlin, is already proving a phenomenon in Russia.

The film (Russian original title Kholop) directed by Klim Shipenko, has become the highest-grossing Russian film of all time with box office of $48 million since its release on December 26 2019. It has also grossed $1.7 million from its releases in Germany, Serbia, Israel and the Baltics.