Columbia Pictures To Release "Stalingrad", Highest-Grossing Russian Movie Of All Time, In The United States

CULVER CITY, Calif., Jan. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Columbia Pictures will release Fedor Bondarchuk's Stalingrad in the United States for a one-week exclusive engagement in IMAX® 3D theatres nationwide on Feb. 28. The 3D World War II drama has recently become the highest-grossing Russian movie of all time, earning $66.1 million in its six-week theatre run.

Stalingrad, which is Russia's official entry for Best Foreign Language Film to the Academy Awards®, is also the first Russian movie made completely in 3D and the first-ever Russian film to be released in the IMAX® format.

"We are delighted with the film and the partnership, and congratulate our friends Fedor Bondarchuk and Alexander Rodnyansky on the record-breaking success of this movie in Russia, followed by a phenomenal performance in China," said Greg Foster, CEO of IMAX Entertainment and Senior Executive Vice President, IMAX Corp.

Rory Bruer, president of Worldwide Distribution for Sony Pictures, added, "We're thrilled to be bringing Russia's top-grossing movie of the year to US audiences.  Stalingrad is not only an incredibly well-told story – it is visually spectacular with an amazing use of 3D, and is perfect for the IMAX format." 

Stalingrad is an epic look at the battle that turned the tide of World War II.  A band of determined Russian soldiers fight to hold a strategic building in their devastated city against a ruthless German army, and in the process become deeply connected to a Russian woman who has been living there.  Presented in IMAX® 3D, the scale of the battle contrasts dramatically with the human drama of the Russian soldiers, the few remaining civilians and their invaders into Stalingrad.

"We are proud and pleased to be collaborating with IMAX® and Sony on the release of Stalingrad, and very excited to be bringing it to American audiences," Rodnyansky said. "The film has received accolades and has broken box-office records in several countries already; we look forward to its welcome in the US, as well."

Stalingrad is directed by Fedor Bondarchuk ("The 9^th Company"), with a screenplay by Ilya Tilkin and Sergey Snezhkin, based on chapters from the novel Life and Fate by Vasiliy Grossman. The film stars Thomas Kretschmann ("King Kong," "The Pianist"), Petr Fedorov, Sergey Bondarchuk, Mariya Smolnikova and Yanina Studilina.

Stalingrad is produced by Alexander Rodnyansky, Sergey Melkumov, Dmitriy Rudovskiy, Anton Zlatopolskiy, with executive producer Nataliya Gorina.

"Academy Award®" is the registered trademark & service mark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

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SOURCE Columbia Pictures