Hollywood heavyweights follow global brands in Russia boycott

As momentum grows across the international business community to take a stand against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, major names in the film and television industry this week began to follow suit by making moves to end their motion picture distribution and production activities in the Russian Federation.

One of the first major studios to announce its Russian boycott was The Walt Disney Company, Hollywood's largest and most influential movie studio, who on Monday said they would pause theatrical releases of all films in Russia, including Pixar's "Turning Red". Disney had originally planned the release of several tentpole films in Russia in the coming months, including Marvel's "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" on 5th May and Pixar's "Lightyear" on 16th June, all of which are now in jeopardy.  

A few hours after the announcement, Warner Bros. pulled the release of its much anticipated blockbuster “The Batman” (scheduled for this Friday) from cinemas in Russia, citing the ongoing "humanitarian crisis in Ukraine" as the reason, with Sony Pictures also announcing this week that it was halting the release of its Marvel adaptation "Morbius" in the country. 

It wasn't just the majors taking a stance against Russia, according to a report in the film industry news publisher Variety, streaming giant Netflix has now paused all future TV and film projects and acquisitions from Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine, including four Russian original projects, meaning at least a temporary end to shooting of a crime thriller series directed by Dasha Zhuk in Russia. The move follows Netflix's earlier decision to no longer air any Russian state TV channels in the country on its service. Major European distributors added to the industry wide response to the situation in Ukraine, with BBC Studios, All3Media, ITV Studios and Fremantle all also putting trade with Russia on pause. 

Significant players in the film and TV festival scene were also swift to bar Russia from participating in their events. Series Mania Festival and MipTV said there won’t be a Russian presence at their respective events and the Beinnale arts exhibition in Venice announced it was scrapping its Russian Pavilion. The Cannes Film Festival took a different approach, announcing on Tuesday that it would not welcome any Russian delegations or attendees with ties to the Putin government, whilst so far The Venice Film Festival is continuing to mull its response to calls for a boycott of Russian movies. Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival, on the other hand, announced it would still show Russian films at its upcoming edition in August.