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Michael Lockshin’s Russian-language adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s “The Master and Margarita” is finally getting a long-awaited U.S. theatrical release.
Following a lengthy battle, Luminosity Pictures are rolling the
movie out Stateside from Sept. 18, Variety can confirm.
Based on Bulgakov’s seminal, semi-autobiographical work, “The Master and Margarita” follows the story of a writer in 1930s Moscow. After being censored, he writes a new novel in which the Devil appears to wreak havoc on those who have wronged the author. It stars August Diehl, Yevgeny Tsyganov, Yuliya Snigir and Claes Bang, among others.
Lockshin completed the movie just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. By the time it was ready for release in Jan. 2024, its themes of censorship and resistance were deemed too controversial by the Kremlin, which criticized both Lockshin, who has been public in his support for Ukraine, and the movie and insisted on removal of scenes.
Despite that, Lockshin’s work saw huge box office in the country, becoming the highest-grossing 18+ release in Russian history. International distribution was delayed after sanctions against Russia saw the film caught up in complex legal wrangling, intensified by competing claimsbyself-proclaimed rights-holders to Bulgakov’s original text.
Those issues have now been resolved to the extent the film, which has had releases in Germany, Austria, Sweden and Italy, among other territories, is finally set to hit U.S. screens. Lumonsity will release Lockshin’s restored director’s cut.
“When we started working on the film, we couldn’t have foreseen that a story about censorship and standing up for truth set in the 1930s would turn out to be so much about the present – in Russia and beyond it,” said Lockshin. “I’m very grateful to the people who came on board and pushed forward to get this film out despite the geopolitical and legal issues.”
Luminosity Pictures co-founder said Peter Hoffman said: “For more than 25 years, my companies have sought to finance and distribute a film adaptation of the extraordinary novel ‘The Master and Margarita.’ When colleagues gave me the opportunity to view Michael Lockshin’s brilliant adaptation of this literary masterpiece, I immediately sought out the Russian producers to bring this unique film to audiences outside the Russian Federation, and they entrusted Luminosity Pictures with that opportunity. This has truly been a passion project for me, and everyone involved has poured their hearts into honoring Bulgakov’s remarkable novel. We hope audiences are swept away by its romance, imagination, and timeless themes, and discover why this extraordinary story has captivated readers around the world for generations.”
Lockshin directs from a screenplay he co-wrote with Roman Kantor. He is repped by 42’s Josh Varney and Peter Dealbert, and by Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman.
The film is produced by Ruben Dishdishyan, Leonard Blavatnik, Igor Tolstunov and Anatoly Akimenko.
Luminosity was founded in 2023. As well as “The Master and Margarita” the company is representing upcoming rom-com “A Murder Uncorked,” starring Emma Roberts and Lucas Bravo, and prison siege thriller “Eleven Days” with Diego Luna, Taylor Kitsch and Jason Isaacs.
Check out the trailer for “The Master and Margarita” below:
