This is the list of highest-grossing films in the Soviet Union, in terms of
box office admissions (ticket sales). It includes the highest-grossing films in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
(USSR), the highest-grossing domestic
Soviet films
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
,
the domestic films with the greatest number of ticket sales by year,
and the highest-grossing foreign films in the Soviet Union.
Note that, in line with the definition above, this list does not include any
Soviet television series or
television movies
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, e ...
, which were not shown in
cinemas
A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall (Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...
of the Soviet Union.
The annual list includes sales during each year only, which often means that the total number of tickets sold was bigger. As an example, according to the list below the film ''
The Red Snowball Tree
''The Red Snowball Tree'' (russian: Калина красная, Kalina krasnaya) is a 1974 Soviet drama film written and directed by Vasily Shukshin. It was the most successful film of that year. In total, the film sold an estimated 140million ti ...
'', the top seller of the year 1974, sold 62.5 million tickets during that year. But the total number of sold tickets during all years was bigger; Boris Pavlenok, former deputy director of the USSR GosKino, estimated 140 million.
This figure is comparable to some of the United States' all-time highest ticket sellers, such as ''
The Sound of Music
''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Se ...
'', ''
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'', and ''
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...
'', exceeding the latter's estimated ticket sales of 135.5 million.
In the mid-1960s, the Soviet
box office
A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicke ...
annually sold tickets and grossed
Rbls,
equivalent to
(
inflation-adjusted
In economics, nominal value is measured in terms of money, whereas real value is measured against goods or services. A real value is one which has been adjusted for inflation, enabling comparison of quantities as if the prices of goods had not c ...
). In 1973, annual box office admissions reached ticket sales, equivalent to (inflation-adjusted )
gross revenue
In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business.
Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive revenue ...
and per person, more than any other country at the time.
Soviet ticket prices were lower than American ticket prices,
due to lower living costs in the Soviet Union.
Ticket prices ranged from to in 1950, before decreasing to by the mid-1960s,
then increasing to by 1973
and then by 1982.
Both domestic
Soviet films
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
and foreign films were shown, the latter having a limited quota and thus drawing higher average ticket sales than domestic productions.
Indian films
The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...
had the strongest presence in the foreign blockbuster charts for four decades, followed by
American films.
Foreign imports included 300 Indian films
(most of which were
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
films), 41 American films (
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
), and 38
French films
This is a list of films produced in the French cinema, ordered by year and decade of release on separate pages.
Before 1910
*List of French films before 1910
1910s
* List of French films of 1910
* List of French films of 1911
* List of French ...
.
Highest-grossing films
Including re-runs
Initial runs
Highest-grossing by year
Highest-grossing domestic films
Including re-runs
Initial runs
Highest-grossing by year
Highest-grossing foreign films
This is a list of foreign films that sold the most tickets at the Soviet box office.
Among the foreign films that sold more than 20 million tickets in the Soviet Union, 50 were
Indian films
The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...
(
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
),
the highest from any nation,
followed by 41
American films (
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
) and 38
French films
This is a list of films produced in the French cinema, ordered by year and decade of release on separate pages.
Before 1910
*List of French films before 1910
1910s
* List of French films of 1910
* List of French films of 1911
* List of French ...
.
Including re-runs
Initial runs
Highest-grossing by year
See also
*
Cinema of the Soviet Union
The cinema of the Soviet Union includes films produced by the constituent republics of the Soviet Union reflecting elements of their pre-Soviet culture, language and history, albeit they were all regulated by the central government in Moscow. ...
*
List of highest-grossing films
Films generate income from several revenue streams, including theatrical exhibition, home video, television broadcast rights, and merchandising. However, theatrical box-office earnings are the primary metric for trade publications in assess ...
*
List of highest-grossing films in Russia
The cinema of Russia began in the Russian Empire, widely developed in the Soviet Union and in the years following its dissolution, the Russian film industry would remain internationally recognized. In the 21st century, Russian cinema has become ...
*
List of highest-grossing Indian films
This is a ranking of the highest grossing Indian films which includes films from various languages based on the conservative global box office estimates as reported by reputable sources. There is no official tracking of domestic box office f ...
*
List of highest-grossing Indian films in overseas markets
Indian films have been released in overseas markets since the latter half of the 1940s. Some of these have had significant commercial success and been nominated for awards.
Although the first Indian film to have worldwide released was from 1952 ...
*
List of highest-grossing non-English films
These are the highest-grossing, primarily non-English language films in the world. The vast majority of them are Chinese films.
Film and language
In terms of gross revenue, English-language films are vastly over-represented among the highes ...
*
Lists of highest-grossing films
The following are lists of high-grossing films.
Worldwide grosses
* List of highest-grossing films
** List of highest-grossing non-English films
** List of highest-grossing puppet films
** List of highest-grossing R-rated films
** List of high ...
Notes
References
External links
*
{{Film box office
Soviet of the year by ticket sales