The Russian fantasy film "The Last Warrior. Kolobok" crossed 1 billion rubles at the domestic box office over the weekend, taking 39 days to reach the milestone despite an online backlash tied to the new Spider-Man movie, Roman Isaev, a member of the council of the Association of Cinema Owners (AVK), told Russia's National News Service (NSN).
The film, directed by Anton Maslov, saw its release coincide with a delay to the premiere of a pirated version of the new Spider-Man film in Russia. That delay angered fans of the Spider-Man franchise, who launched what Isaev described as an unprecedented social media campaign against Maslov's film.
Isaev on the backlash
Isaev said the campaign likely produced a roughly neutral net effect on the film's performance. He said some viewers may have reacted negatively, while for others the controversy acted as a trigger that drew attention to the film instead. He said it was wrong to say the backlash significantly hurt the film's results, calling a billion rubles a fairly worthy outcome. He added that the total could have been higher or lower, but that it landed at what he called an average, optimal level.
Isaev said Kolobok had handled an extremely difficult task. Kolobok is a character from Slavic folk tales, a round baked figure who famously rolls away from the animals trying to eat him, and the film forms part of the "Last Warrior" fantasy franchise.
Next billion-ruble contenders
Isaev said it was always going to be hard for both Kolobok and "Kholop 3" to reach a billion rubles at the pace typically seen around New Year or the spring and autumn holiday periods, given their summer release window. He said he expected Kolobok to keep earning through the September and early October weekends.
He said the next billion-ruble hits are expected during the autumn school holidays, when several major releases will split the holiday box office. He named three films opening on October 22, "The Tale of Lost Time," "Chudo-Yudo" and "Morozko," as the main favourites. He also pointed to the sequel to the hit "Hands Up!," due out on October 15, a week earlier, saying its second part also has billion-ruble potential.
According to the Telegram channel Radiotochka NSN, "The Last Warrior. Kolobok" became the ninth film since the start of 2026 to pass 1 billion rubles in official Russian box office distribution.
