Afghanistan War Movie Breaks Russian Box Office Record

In the first five days of distribution a new Russian movie about the Soviet war in Afghanistan has broken domestic box office records, taking $7.7 million, the Izvestia daily reports. At least 1.8 million people have visited the country’s cinemas to watch it.

9th Company by Fyodor Bondarchuk has become the third Russian movie to beat Hollywood blockbusters for popularity in Russia’s cinemas. The Afghan war film follows costume drama Turkish Gambit with $18 million (in first five days it brought the producers only $5 million) and fantasy thriller Night Watch with $16 million, which it earned in the whole distribution period of several months.

The first U.S. movie, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (approximately $14 million), appears only at fourth place in the most successful films at the Russian box office.

9th Company is based on historical events from the period 1987-1989. The war in Afghanistan claimed the lives of 15,000 Soviet servicemen. The real life 9th company was among the first elements of the Red Army to be sent to Afghanistan. At the end of 1987 the 9th company was sent to the epicenter of the war at a height of 3,234 meters (named later “3234”) to cover the retreat of Soviet forces. They were cut off from the world and died, convinced that the war was not over.

The movie’s budget was $9 million and saw 1,500 servicemen taking part in the filming. 9th Company became only the second movie in the history of Russian cinematography to collaborate with the famous Pinewood Shepperton Studios, the birthplace of all the James Bond movies, Black Hawk Down, as well as the latest Tim Burton movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.