Fantawild’s Boonie Bears to Take Over Russia’s Big Screen

Fantawild Animation will premiere in Russia two of its Boonie Bears films--Blast into the Past, and Fantastica. The films will be respectively distributed by Treblo Media (for Blast into the Past) and High Fly (for Fantastica). Both films are scheduled to be screened on September 19, and will likely hit 1,000 screens in total.

“This time we tried something new--to release two films on the same day. This is a very unique and rare strategy, but this way we’d be able to have access to almost 70% of the Russian cinemas,” commented Kristina Razmerova, Senior Distribution Manager of Fantawild Animation, “this is quite impressive given that the Russian market is really harsh on indies.”

The Russian distributors are re-branding the films in the market as stand-alone pieces so that the two films will not be competing, but complementing with each other. They are also using creative promotional strategies such as producing themed puzzles to attract the young audience.

These theatrical releases will mean that five Boonie Bears films--all in the franchise but one--will have been screened in Russian cinemas.

The Russian releases were among the many European deals Fantawild signed in Cannes. In the near future, the Boonie Bears films will go to cinemas in Germany, Czech Republic and Slovakia, Ex-Yugoslavia and Baltics--the first time the brand entered these markets.

The Boonie Bears brand has so far left its footprints in over 100 territories and made over $415 million in box office for Fantawild Animation. In addition to the animation business, Fantawild also produces over $440 million annually in merchandising sales worldwide.