The director behind record-breaking Russian films such as World War II epic “Stalingrad” was in Cannes this week, where he presented footage from Art Pictures’ slate of upcoming releases at an invitation-only event.

“Attraction 2” is the follow-up to the sci-fi actioner in which Moscow becomes the battleground for all-out war against an army of alien invaders. In the sequel, an alien spaceship crash lands in Moscow, and an ordinary girl gains superpowers that make her the focus of study in secret government labs. But it’s not only the humans who are interested in her new powers, and she will have to decide which side she is on. 

Art Pictures Studio will release the film in Russia on Jan. 1, 2020.

Bondarchuk’s father, Sergei, won the foreign-language Academy Award in 1969 with his seven-hour adaptation of “War and Peace,” which was among the most expensive and ambitious movies of its era. The younger Bondarchuk has made his own name through lavish, CGI-fueled spectacles that have placed him among the leading figures behind a new wave of Russian blockbusters.

Bondarchuk’s 2005 Afghan war movie “The 9th Company” broke domestic box-office records for a Russian film. A decade later, “Stalingrad” repeated the feat, grossing over $50 million to become the most successful Russian movie of all time. It was the first Russian movie to be shot entirely in 3-D, and the first to be released in the IMAX format, earning a limited theatrical run in the U.S. “Attraction” sold to more than 80 territories.

“Art Pictures produces films for a wide audience,” Bondarchuk told Variety last week, after the presentation in Cannes. He noted that the company’s global sales have been steadily rising in recent years, while adding that two co-productions with China are in the works. “We’re shooting not just for the domestic market, but to make it international.”

SOURCE: VARIETY.COM