Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled to open in Armenia and several other former Soviet markets on January 7, 2027, twenty days after its scheduled U.S. release. In Armenia, the film may be marketed under the localized title Avengers: Doctor Doom. While much of the discussion surrounding the delay has focused on the commercial benefits of keeping two major Hollywood blockbusters apart, another possible factor has received far less attention: Russia’s unauthorized theatrical screenings of Hollywood films.
On October 28, Russian film industry publication Kinometro reported that distributors had decided to separate two of the year’s most anticipated releases across the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Three is scheduled to open in the region on December 17, while Avengers: Doomsday has been moved to January 7. Both films are currently set to premiere in the United States on December 18.
On November 2, regional distributor ASCAR Cinema officially announced January 7 as the new release date. However, a statement from Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Culture and Information raised further questions about the decision.
According to the ministry, Avengers: Doomsday had already received its theatrical distribution certificate in Kazakhstan on October 7, meaning there was no regulatory obstacle to releasing the film in December.
The ministry explained that the distributor was seeking a common release date across CIS markets. While officials initially described the arrangement as still under consideration, ASCAR Cinema has publicly announced January 7 as the regional release date. The ministry also emphasized that release dates are determined by rights holders and distributors, with the government playing no role in their commercial arrangements.
The situation is less clear in neighboring Georgia. ASCAR Cinema lists Georgia among its distribution territories, yet as of November 5, Georgian cinema chain Cavea was still advertising December 17, 2026, as the premiere date for Avengers: Doomsday. It remains unclear whether Georgia will retain the original release date or whether Cavea has simply not updated its listings.
The most widely discussed explanation for the delay is commercial. Releasing two major blockbusters simultaneously could force them to compete for screens and audiences, potentially limiting their box office performance. Yet recent film history offers a compelling counterexample.
In July 2023, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer opened on the same weekend, sparking the global cultural phenomenon known as “Barbenheimer.” Rather than undermining each other, both films became major box office successes. Their simultaneous release generated enormous publicity and encouraged audiences to see both films.
Armenia experienced a similar surge in interest. According to Comscore data, Barbie grossed AMD 158.9 million (approximately US$441,000) and sold 76,041 tickets in Armenia, while Oppenheimer earned AMD 127.5 million (approximately US$354,000) with 52,460 admissions.
For a relatively small theatrical market, these were remarkable results. Although the success of Barbie and Oppenheimer does not guarantee that Dune: Part Three and Avengers: Doomsday would perform equally well, it challenges the assumption that separating major releases is always commercially necessary.
There is, however, another side to this story that has attracted considerably less attention. Russia’s Association of Cinema Owners was discussing the prospects for both Hollywood films months before the regional release dates changed. As early as August, the association’s chairman, Alexey Voronkov, expressed concern about the increasingly crowded New Year release calendar in Russia.
Several major Russian family films are scheduled to arrive in cinemas during the holiday season. Winter in Prostokvashino is expected on December 17, followed by four releases on January 1: Cheburashka 3, Umka, The Wizard of the Emerald City: The Great and Terrible, and Hottabych.
According to Voronkov, Russian cinemas simply do not have enough screens to accommodate so many major domestic productions at once. He said industry representatives were negotiating with producers and distributors to spread out release dates and reduce competition.
More significantly, Voronkov addressed the fate of Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three on September 7, nearly two months before news of the regional delay emerged.
As reported by Russian news outlet Gazeta.Ru the following day, Voronkov said neither film was expected to receive theatrical screenings in Russia in December, January or at any point before April 2027. He also predicted that the practice of showing major Hollywood releases without authorization could come to an end within the following two or three months.
Importantly, Voronkov did not announce a delay in the CIS countries. His comments concerned Russia, where major Hollywood studios have suspended official theatrical distribution.
Nevertheless, the timing is noteworthy. Concerns about protecting Russian cinemas during the lucrative holiday season, along with discussions about restricting unauthorized Hollywood screenings, were already circulating in September. The first reports of changes to the regional release schedule appeared only in late October.
To understand why this matters, it is necessary to look at how Hollywood films have continued reaching Russian cinemas since 2022. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, major Hollywood studios suspended their operations in the country. Many Russian cinema operators subsequently began screening new Hollywood releases without authorization from the rights holders.
One widely used arrangement is known locally as pre-show services. Under this system, audiences purchase tickets for a legally distributed film, often a little-known Russian short, while the main attraction is an unauthorized screening of a Hollywood blockbuster presented as an additional feature. The arrangement has allowed Russian exhibitors to continue attracting audiences with films that have no official theatrical distribution in the country.
It has also created a connection between Russia’s unauthorized screenings and the legitimate release schedules of neighboring markets. Hollywood blockbusters typically begin appearing in Russian cinemas without authorization some time after their official premieres in countries such as Kazakhstan and Armenia. During the New Year holidays, however, the gap can be considerably longer. For example, Avatar: Fire and Ash opened in Armenia on December 19, 2025, while unauthorized screenings in Russia did not begin until January 15, 2026. That precedent makes the timing of Avengers: Doomsday particularly interesting.
Had the film opened across the CIS in mid-December, unauthorized screenings in Russia might have overlapped with the most profitable weeks of the domestic holiday season. A January 7 regional premiere, on the other hand, could push those screenings into mid-January, after Russia’s extended New Year holidays, assuming exhibitors follow a similar pattern to previous years.
Notably, some Russian cinemas are already listing January 16, 2027, as the start date for screenings of Avengers: Doomsday — just nine days after its announced official release in CIS markets.
Such an arrangement could benefit both Russian film producers and cinema operators. Domestic films would have the opportunity to earn revenue during the peak holiday period without facing unauthorized competition from a major Hollywood blockbuster. Cinema operators could then use Hollywood releases to attract audiences once the initial wave of domestic films had completed its most profitable run.
This possibility also needs to be considered in the context of Russia’s broader film policy. For years, the Russian government has actively supported domestic production and distribution through public funding and measures designed to improve the commercial prospects of national films.
In 2016, regulations came into force allowing the Ministry of Culture to intervene in release scheduling when films targeting similar audiences were due to open at the same time. Although those provisions ceased to apply in 2024, negotiations between distributors, producers and exhibitors over major release dates remain common.
Elsewhere in the region, the theatrical landscape is considerably different. Domestic productions have strengthened their positions in Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in recent years, with local films increasingly appearing among their markets’ biggest box office successes.
At the same time, Hollywood blockbusters remain an important source of revenue for exhibitors. They help cinemas attract different audiences, maintain a diverse release slate and generate income between major domestic premieres.
The distinction matters. While Russian film policy has long sought to give domestic productions more favorable competitive conditions, cinemas in neighboring countries rely on a combination of local and international releases to maintain a sustainable business.
A scheduling decision that benefits Russian exhibitors or domestic producers may therefore have very different financial consequences for cinemas in Armenia, Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan.
Against this backdrop, it is reasonable to consider whether Russian market interests may have played a role in the decision to delay Avengers: Doomsday across the region.
There is currently no direct evidence that the film was postponed to accommodate unauthorized screenings in Russia. Nevertheless, the sequence of industry statements, concerns about the holiday box office and the subsequent change in release dates raises legitimate questions.
Those questions are particularly relevant to Armenia, where Hollywood films are distributed legally and audience preferences differ significantly from those in Russia.
Armenia’s strongest box office performers are generally domestic productions and selected major Hollywood releases. Russian films, even those earning billions of rubles in their home market, rarely achieve comparable success in Armenian cinemas.
Comscore figures illustrate the difference. Cheburashka 2, which opened on January 1, 2026, grossed AMD 39 million (approximately US$108,300) in Armenia, selling 18,482 tickets over its theatrical run. Buratino, released on the same day, earned AMD 2.7 million (approximately US$7,500) from 1,317 admissions, while Prostokvashino generated just AMD 771,000 (approximately US$2,140) and attracted 528 moviegoers. The Russian fantasy film Ogniwo, which was screened with Armenian dubbing, performed even more modestly, earning AMD 352,000 (approximately US$980) from 193 admissions.
By comparison, Cheburashka 2 grossed more than 6 billion rubles in Russia alone. The disparity highlights the differences between the two markets, particularly in audience preferences and the commercial appeal of Russian productions.
Meanwhile, Armenian cinema continues to strengthen its position at home. According to a KinoPress analysis based on Comscore data, Armenia’s total theatrical box office revenue increased by approximately 35% in the first half of 2026, reaching AMD 2.13 billion (approximately US$5.91 million).
All four of the country’s highest-grossing films during that period were Armenian productions. This growth demonstrates that Armenia is developing a domestic theatrical market with its own audience and commercial dynamics. Hollywood blockbusters, meanwhile, remain an additional source of revenue that helps sustain cinema operations. That makes the decision surrounding Avengers: Doomsday difficult to understand from an Armenian market perspective.
Why should Armenia’s theatrical release calendar be influenced by the commercial interests of Russian cinemas, particularly when Hollywood studios no longer distribute their films officially in Russia and some exhibitors continue to screen them without authorization?
The delay points to a longstanding issue in regional film distribution. Armenia has its own cinema audience, market conditions and legitimate distribution system. Yet it remains dependent on release strategies developed for a broader region, where commercial priorities do not always align with the needs of individual markets.
As Russian cinemas prepare for an extended holiday season led by Cheburashka 3 and other domestic productions, Armenian audiences will have to wait almost three weeks after the U.S. premiere to see Marvel’s latest blockbuster.
If Russia’s unauthorized Hollywood screenings did influence that decision, the implications extend well beyond the scheduling of two major films. They raise a fundamental question about regional distribution: should the commercial interests of Armenia’s legitimate theatrical market be shaped by unauthorized film screenings in another country?
