Large chains of Russian cinemas are removing the so-called “pre-session service” from the posters, under the guise of which Hollywood films were previously shown, inaccessible for legal viewing in Russia due to sanctions. This drew the attention of RBC.

So, according to the “Yandex Posters”, which refers to the publication, the second part of the film “Dune”, which a month ago was shown in dozens of cinemas in Moscow and St. Petersburg, disappeared from the schedule of “pre-session service” cinema networks “Cinema Star” and “Kinomax”. Previously, it was actively shown in pairs with Russian short films, for which tickets are actually sold under this scheme. "Dune", according to RBC estimates, for a week at the box office collected in Russia more than 110 million rubles.

In early April, the Association of Cinema Owners called on cinemas to support Russian films and completely abandon the pre-season service scheme between April 18 and May 12. A number of distributors sent letters to the owners of cinemas, in which they “offered” not to show pirated Hollywood films on these dates. Otherwise, cinemas threatened to deny access to films legally distributed by distributors.

The head of TelecomDaily agency Denis Kuskov told RBC that “such an ultimatum – to leave networks without legal content – sounds serious.” In addition, he does not exclude that “after the expiration of the stated period – from April 18 to May 12 – this practice will be permanent, and the volume of shadow rolled products will be reduced to a minimum.”.