Disney, Warner Bros will pause theatrical movie releases in Russia

Disney has a variety of additional operations in Russia, including a Disney Channel, retail sales of consumer products and touring stage productions

Disney said Monday that it was “pausing” the release of films in Russia, becoming the first Hollywood studio to weigh in publicly on the matter. Warner Bros, which had vowed to press on with the release of The Batman, reversed course soon after Disney’s announcement and said it, too, would enact a pause.

“Given the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the tragic humanitarian crisis, we are pausing the release of theatrical films in Russia, including the upcoming Turning Red from Pixar,” Disney said in a statement. Turning Red was scheduled for release in Russia on March 10.

The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson, was scheduled to arrive in Russian cinemas Thursday. In initially sticking with that release plan, Warner executives had contended earlier Monday that a marketing campaign had already been fully executed in the country and that theatres in Russia were not owned by the government.

“We will continue to monitor the situation as it evolves,” WarnerMedia said in its statement announcing a pause. “We hope for a swift and peaceful resolution to this tragedy.”

How long a pause for the studios? It was unclear. Given the marketing runway needed to release films in theatres, Disney’s action will almost assuredly affect two other films, however. They are Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, scheduled for release May 5 in Russia, and the animated Bob’s Burgers, scheduled for May 26. Warner’s coming movies include Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore and DC League of Super Pets.

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Both companies have additional operations in Russia. Disney, for instance, has a Disney Channel and touring stage productions. Disney did not address any of those in its statement.

“We will make future business decisions based on the evolving situation,” the statement said. Disney added that it was working with unspecified partner organisations to provide “urgent aid and other humanitarian assistance to refugees.”

Russia is a small box-office market. Free Guy was Disney’s top release there last year, according to IMDBpro, a film industry database. It collected $11.2 million in Russia, about 3 per cent of its worldwide gross of $331.5 million.

Before the pandemic, Russia was the No 9 market for Hollywood outside the US, according to the Motion Picture Association. Ticket sales for American-made movies totalled about $900 million in Russia in 2019. In the No 1 foreign market, China, sales for Hollywood totalled $9.3 billion in 2019.

The Motion Picture Association, which lobbies around the world for Netflix, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal and Warner Bros., released a statement Monday night condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “On behalf of our member companies, who lead the film, TV and streaming industry, we express our strongest support for Ukraine’s vibrant creative community who, like all people, deserve to live and work peacefully.”

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