russians Have Begun Voting Against Propaganda with Their Rubles

For several years now, the values-driven approach in russian cinema has been yielding substantial returns – but only for its creators. A paradoxical situation is unfolding in the market: every year, the government spends colossal sums on domestic cinema, budgets are constantly growing, yet ratings are falling with equal consistency. russian propaganda has become so tiresome to its own audience that viewers are “voting” against it with their rubles.

Last year, out of 41 russian films produced with state support, only five – 12% – recouped their costs, while the remaining 36 – 88% – incurred nothing but losses. By comparison, in the previous year, 2024, 78% of films were unprofitable.

At the same time, last year, the ministry of culture and the “cinema fund” in russia supported 27 films with a “patriotic” propaganda angle, including 12 war films. Most of them were never even seen by audiences, so the “cultural code” and value system were shaped and broadcast to empty cinemas. Meanwhile, the “cinema fund”’s budget increased from 10.2 to 10.4 billion rubles compared to the previous year, and the state duma is considering the possibility of full state funding for russian animation.

Overall, russian filmmaking – with its constant “skimming” of budgets and odious propaganda – has already become quite tiresome to russians. In the first half of this year, out of 130 films, only eight broke even, while 94% turned out to be unprofitable. The losses amount to tens of billions of rubles.