Large Russian cinema chains (Premier Hall, Kinomax and Mirage Cinema) began screening James Cameron's film Avatar: The Way of Water from January 11, without having a rental certificate. Vedomosti writes about it.
Tickets for such sessions are sold according to a special scheme. For example, on the Kinomax website, you can buy a ticket to show the film The Commentator (it lasts about 10 minutes), and Avatar: The Way of Water is promised to viewers as part of a “pre-screen service”. At the same time, the description of the ticket refers only to the film "Avatar".
Kinomax and Mirage Cinema clarified that the film was shown by third-party companies – Prokino and To Kino!.
Several other major networks (Cinema Park, Formula Kino and Karo) decided not to show Avatar. In particular, Olga Zinyakova, president of Karo, explains this by saying that film distribution without a certificate is “a violation of the law of Russia and all international copyright conventions.”