Disney and Warner Brothers temporarily stop theatrical performances in Russia

The Walt Disney Company It will stop all future theatrical film releases in Russia after the country The attack on Ukraine.

“Given the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the tragic humanitarian crisis, we are halting theatrical releases in Russia, including the upcoming Pixar movie Turning Red,” the company said in a statement on Monday. “We will make future business decisions based on the evolving situation.

“In the meantime, given the scale of the emerging refugee crises, we are working with our NGO partners to provide urgent and other humanitarian assistance to refugees,” Disney said.

Disney is the first major Hollywood studio to take a hard line against Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine. Warner Bros. It followed suit later on Monday, saying it was temporarily halting the release of “Batman” in the country “in light of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine”.

“We will continue to monitor the situation as it develops,” the company said in a statement. We hope for a speedy and peaceful resolution of this tragedy.”

While ticket sales in Russia are not as significant as those collected in China, it is still a prominent market for Hollywood studios. On average, the Russian box office accounts for about 3% of all global ticket sales, according to data from Comscore.

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” is a co-production with Sonyhas reached more than 50 million dollars in the country.

Disney and Warner Brothers. The decisions to abandon releases in Russia come amid a flurry of other boycotts of the entertainment industry.

Giant running Netflix It said it would not abide by Russian rules for broadcasting news channels amid the escalating Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“Due to the current situation, we have no plans to add these channels to our service,” a Netflix spokesperson told CNBC Monday. The decision comes as a wave of Russian state-backed news bulletins has carried Russian propaganda justifying the war that Moscow launched in Ukraine last week.

Sports organizations and professional athletes They are also hitting Russia with their own kinds of sanctions. Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) joined the Confederation of European Football Associations (UEFA) to announce this That would prevent the Russian Teams from events, including the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, until further notice.

The National Hockey League, which includes more than two dozen Russian-born hockey players, has suspended agreements with Russian companies and the International Olympic Committee as well. Recommended banning of Russian teams from competitions violating the “Olympic Truce”.