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For 50 issues, lasting from 2012 to 2016, the Bubble Comics comic book series Major Grom, which was created by Artyom Gabrelyanov and Evgeny Fedotov, told readers stories about Igor Grom, a police major in the city of Saint Petersburg, who is – according to Wikipedia – “known for his uncompromising attitude to crime, his honesty and integrity, as well as his detective abilities and hand-to-hand combat skills.” Soon after the comic book finished its 50 issue run, a 29 minute Major Grom short was released into the world, and that paved the way for the production of a Major Grom feature film, Major Grom: Plague Doctor, which was released in 2021 and was “a loose adaptation of the first story arc of the comic series, telling the story of the confrontation between police major Igor Grom and the vigilante murderer known as Plague Doctor.” The sequel Major Grom: The Game is set to be released on May 23rd,...

While cinemas worldwide have spent the better part of this year shuttered or operating at limited capacity, few film industries have felt the pain quite like Russia’s, which generates roughly 80% of its revenues from theatrical receipts, according to Evgenia Markova, head of the Russian film promotion body Roskino.

But while local profits have plummeted, Russian producers continue to find growing interest from foreign buyers, with Markova pointing to strong sales at Mipcom and at the Key Buyers Event, a virtual showcase for domestic productions that took place this summer.

“The Russian industry has learned to adapt to all the new circumstances,” she says. “It became more flexible, and more responsive to the needs of the global market.” A number of high-profile Russian projects will be introduced to foreign buyers during AFM, beginning with “Major Grom and the Plague Doctor,” a big-screen adaptation of the hit comic-book franchise from Bubble Comics.