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Recent financial reports for 2025 reveal that the vast majority of Russian feature films produced with government support failed to break even at the box office. According to the "KG PROGRESS" analytical center, out of 41 state-funded projects, only 5 managed to recover their production costs. This means that a staggering 88% of these projects were commercially unsuccessful, highlighting a significant gap between government investment and market performance.
The most profitable state-supported film of the year was "The Wizard of the Emerald City: The Yellow Brick Road." It emerged as the financial leader, earning 1.39 billion rubles beyond its production and marketing budget. Other notable successes included "Daddy's Daughters: Mom is Back," which generated 515 million rubles in profit, and "Finist: The First Knight," with a net gain of 341 million rubles. These few hits stand in sharp contrast to the overall industry trend.
On the other end of the spectrum, the film "Evil City" suffered the most dramatic financial failure of the year. It fell short of its break-even point by a massive 1.86 billion rubles, making it the biggest commercial disappointment of 2025. This failure raises serious questions about the strategic planning of high-budget historical and epic productions and their resonance with the modern cinema-going audience.
The case of the film "Kraken" was particularly noteworthy, as it received the largest single state subsidy of 760 million rubles. Despite this massive injection of public funds, the movie failed to achieve even basic profitability and is now listed among the year's top commercial failures. These findings, based on data from the Cinema Fund and the Ministry of Culture, suggest that future state funding policies may undergo rigorous review to ensure better accountability and commercial viability in the film industry.
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A rye-wheat loaf preserved in a freezer for 36 years has been put on public display as part of the permanent exhibition at the Deutschlandmuseum in Berlin. Dubbed "The Last Loaf of the GDR," it was originally purchased on June 26, 1990, by student Michael Hagedorn, who bought an extra loaf fearing potential food shortages amidst the economic unification of East and West Germany.
The museum's director, Robert Rückel, described the unusual artifact as a unique poignant symbol of everyday human decisions during times of monumental geopolitical change. To maintain its preserved state, the museum installed a custom refrigeration unit where the historical loaf remains permanently frozen for visitors to view.