The film's release was pushed multiple times and was released on 25 January 2024, to mostly positive reviews.[4] The movie quickly became the highest-grossing movie released with a 18+ content rating ever in Russia, with over 2 billion rubles in the box office.[5][6]
Premise
In 1930s Moscow, a prominent writer's works are suddenly censored by the Soviet state and the premiere of his theatrical play about Pontius Pilate is canceled for ideological reasons. He's kicked out of the
Union of Soviet Writers, and quickly turns into an outcast with no means to survive.
Inspired by Margarita, his lover, he begins working on a new novel in which all the characters are satirically reinterpreted from his life. The novel's central character is Woland, a mystical dark force who visits Soviet Moscow as a tourist, and avenges all those who caused the writer's downfall.
As the writer sinks himself deeper and deeper into his novel, adding himself and Margarita as characters, he gradually stops noticing as the border between reality and his imagination fades away.
Yevgeny Kharitonov as the doorman of the Dramlit House
Ilya Slanevsky as Gindin, the actor who played Yeshua in the theatre
Mariya Dubina as Anna
Oleg Nazarov as Vyacheslav, Margarita's husband
Dmitry Vorontsov as Jacques, the first guest at Woland's ball
Production
In 2018, the film was announced as being in production, with two major Russian producers helming the project:
Ruben Dishdishyan and
Igor Tolstunov.
Nikolai Lebedev was set to direct. By 2020, however, the project still had not taken off. At some point in the project, Lebedev had left the project.
Instead,
Michael Lockshin, director of The Silver Skates co-wrote a new script with Roman Kantor in 2020 and directed the film in 2021. The new script intertwined the novel with Bulgakov's life. The film had a working title Woland. The producers were Ruben Dishdishyan, Igor Tolstunov and
Leonard Blavatnik.
In July 2021 it was announced that August Diehl will be playing Woland.[7]
Filming began in July 2021 in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Malta, and concluded in October 2021.[8][9]
Mars Media announced that the film would be released on January 1, 2023, with
Universal Pictures acting as distributor.[10][11]
In August 2022, it was announced that the release date would be pushed to late 2023, due to
Universal Pictures leaving Russia over the
Russian invasion of Ukraine and problems with funding the film's post-production.[12][13][14] In July 2023, it was announced that the film would be pushed once again to 25 January 2024.[15]
In April 2023 the producers announced that they would change the title of the film from Woland to The Master and Margarita.
Reception
The film was released to positive reviews from Russian press. Film critic
Anton Dolin called it "the first good adaptation" of Bulgakov's novel[16] and the "best commercial movie in modern Russian history". Many viewers also noted the timeliness of the film, as the period piece reflected on news from contemporary Russia. Diehl's performance as Woland was praised by reviewers from Komsomolskaya Pravda and
RBK.[17][18]
On release day, the film opened to 57.3 million rubles.[19] By its second weekend, the film had made 1 billion rubles, according to the
Cinema Foundation of Russia.[20]
The movie was targeted by nationalist activists and pro-Putin public figures, including
Zakhar Prilepin,
Tigran Keosayan and
Vladimir Solovyev, who complained about the director's anti-war views on the
war in Ukraine, the themes of the film allegedly being anti-regime, and the fact that the
Ministry of Culture had provided funding for the film, and demanded a criminal investigation into the film and into Lockshin himself.[19][6][21] However, according to the director, when the propagandists started their attack, the movie had already gained notoriety and success after its first week at the box office, so the authorities did not intervene to stop distribution.[22]
^Vakhromeyev, Sergey.
"Съемки фильма "Воланд" завершились в Петербурге" ["Filming of the film "Woland" has concluded in St Petersburg]. St. Petersburg Dnevnik (in Russian). Retrieved 29 November 2021.
^Gimashev, Linar (10 August 2022).
"Фильм "Воланд" может вообще не выйти" [The film "Woland" might not be released]. Plugged In (in Russian). Retrieved 13 August 2022.