“CHERNOBYL” LANDS ON iQIYI IN CHINA

The biggest Chinese streamer picks up Danila Kozlovsky’s high-awaited blockbuster “Chernobyl”

Major Russian distributor Central Partnership wraps up European Film Market (EFM) with a bunch of global sales. “Chernobyl”, a high-budget actioner directed by Danila Kozlovsky, goes to China to air on iQIYI, and will also travel to Taiwan and European territories.

“Chernobyl” is the first major Russian film dedicated to the disaster and its aftermath. The story follows fireman Alexey, accompanied by an engineer and a military diver, on a perilous mission to drain water from a reservoir under the burning reactor. They descend into the depths of the reactor building, prepared to sacrifice their own lives to prevent an even greater catastrophe. “Chernobyl” stars actor-turned-director Danila Kozlovsky (“Vikings”), Oksana Akinshina (“The Sputnik”, “Fire”), Philipp Avdeev (“The Outpost”, “Leto”) and others.

“We tried to tell a powerful story of love between particular people, in a particular family, that happened in the times of a horrifying global-scale disaster. We are not trying to appoint who’s guilty or give a verdict, we are not pretending to be objective. The protagonists here are people and their personal stories”, says Danila Kozlovsky, the film’s director, co-producer and leading actor.

“Chernobyl” is produced by Oscar-nominated Alexander Rodnyansky and Sergey Melkumov (“Leviathan,” “Loveless”), as well as Danila Kozlovsky (“The Coach”), Vadim Vereshchagin (“Billion,” “Text,” “Son of a Rich”), and Rafael Minasbekyan (“Furious,” “Frontier”).

It will premiere in Russia this April, marking the 35th anniversary of the disaster.

“The iQIYI “Chernobyl” deal is the new big step towards promoting Russian cinema to international markets and our strategic partnership with China”, says Vadim Vereshchagin, CEO of Central Partnership.

“We are very excited that Chernobyl will be released theatrically in China. It is not our first experience, some years ago Russian war-epic Stalingrad, which I produced, was very successful in China and set up a box-office record for a non-English release, the film grossed over $12 million. Chernobyl is an extraordinary powerful emotional film, a human drama set against the worst man-made disaster in history. It is a story of heroism and sacrifice, I am sure that Chinese audience will enjoy and appreciate it”, adds producer Alexander Rodnyansky.

The film will also travel to the French-speaking Europe (Kinovista), Taiwan (Moviecloud), Czech Republic and Slovakia (JOJ).

It has been previously sold to the US (MPI Media Group), South Korea, Latin America, Japan, Israel, Spain, the Baltics, and German-speaking territories.

Source: Central Partner