The Warner Bros. film, which has crossed US$1 billion in global box office since its worldwide premiere on July 21, was reportedly obtained unlawfully through a strategy used by Russian film distributors since last year to get digital copies of movies played in Kazakhstan via the messaging app Telegram without obtaining the necessary copyrights.
The copy, for which Siberian cinephiles had to pay 300 Russian rubles ($3.11) for a ticket, was obtained in a “pirated” manner, with advertising and watermark protection that would be deleted before the next showing, according to one of the organizers of the Tyumen premiere.
“We just want to show movies and provide access to some entertainment in these harsh realities we are in,” said the Tyumen screening’s organizer, identified as Vladimir, to RTVI news.
Russian media also reported that posters for the blockbusters “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” were displayed across Yekaterinburg, yet no information regarding screenings of those films was accessible on the websites of local theaters.