Major Grom Plague Doctor

Production Budget Analysis

What was the production budget for Major Grom: Plague Doctor?

Directed by Oleg Trofim, with Tikhon Zhiznevsky, Lyubov Aksyonova, Aleksey Maklakov leading the cast, Major Grom: Plague Doctor was produced by Bubble Studios with a confirmed budget of $10,000,000, placing it in the low-budget category for action films as part of the Major Grom Collection.

At $10,000,000, Major Grom: Plague Doctor was produced on a modest budget. Lower-budget films benefit from reduced break-even thresholds, with profitability achievable at approximately $25,000,000.

Budget Comparison — Similar Productions

• By the Sea (2015): Budget $10,000,000 | Gross $3,727,746 → ROI: -63% • Eye for an Eye (2025): Budget $10,000,000 | Gross N/A • Goal! (2005): Budget $10,000,000 | Gross $27,610,873 → ROI: 176% • Phantom (2013): Budget $10,000,000 | Gross $1,197,759 → ROI: -88% • War of the Worlds (2025): Budget $10,000,000 | Gross N/A

Key Budget Allocation Categories

▸ Stunts, Action Sequences & Visual Effects Action films allocate a substantial portion of their budget to choreographing and executing practical stunts, pyrotechnics, and CGI-heavy sequences. For large-scale productions, VFX alone can account for 20–30% of the total budget, with additional costs for stunt coordinators, rigging, and safety crews.

▸ Above-the-Line Talent (Cast & Director) A-list talent commands significant upfront fees plus backend participation. Lead actors in major action franchises typically earn $10–25 million per film, with directors often receiving comparable compensation packages tied to box office performance.

▸ Production Design, Sets & Locations Action films frequently require multiple international shooting locations, large-scale set construction, vehicle acquisitions and modifications, and specialized equipment — all of which drive production costs well above those of dialogue-driven genres.

Key Production Personnel

CAST: Tikhon Zhiznevsky, Lyubov Aksyonova, Aleksey Maklakov, Aleksandr Seteykin, Sergey Goroshko Key roles: Tikhon Zhiznevsky as Igor Grom; Lyubov Aksyonova as Yuliya Pchelkina; Aleksey Maklakov as Inspector Fyodor Prokopenko; Aleksandr Seteykin as Dima Dubin

DIRECTOR: Oleg Trofim CINEMATOGRAPHY: Maxim Zhukov MUSIC: Roman Seliverstov EDITING: Yuri Karikh, Aleksandr Puzyrev PRODUCTION: Bubble Studios, Plus Studio FILMED IN: Russia

Box Office Performance

Major Grom: Plague Doctor earned $4,493,306 in worldwide box office revenue.

Break-Even Analysis

Using the industry-standard 2.5x multiplier (P&A + exhibitor shares of 40–50% + distribution fees), Major Grom: Plague Doctor needed approximately $25,000,000 to break even. The film fell $20,506,694 short in theatrical revenue. Ancillary streams (home media, streaming, TV) may have bridged the gap.

Return on Investment (ROI)

Revenue: $4,493,306 Budget: $10,000,000 Net: $-5,506,694 ROI: -55.1%

Detailed Box Office Notes

After Roskomnadzor, Russia's media oversight agency, blocked the Telegram messaging service nationwide in 2018, Pavel Durov organized a flash mob, urging protesters to release paper airplanes on the streets on 22 April 2018 at 19:00. A very similar flash mob, including a mass release of paper airplanes, was organized in the first Major Grom teaser by the Plague Doctor, whose character in the comic is loosely based on Durov.

Before the premiere, the website Byulleten Kinoprokatchika predicted that first-weekend box office receipts would amount to 200 million rubles. However, the film received half the box office and earned only 105 million in the first weekend. The media suggested that the film could hardly recoup the announced budget of 640 million rubles by the end of its run. and an unknown person even rented a billboard on New Arbat Avenue, in the center of Moscow, where Major Grom fan tweets were shown.

Nevertheless, despite low box office returns, the film gained popularity on streaming services: in May, it topped views on Kinopoisk HD, second only to Zack Snyder's Justice League. By 8 July, the film entered the top ten on Netflix in 64 countries around the world, and took first place in fourteen countries. In the United States, the film reached second place on the Netflix movie charts, holding that position for five consecutive days in early July 2021.

Profitability Assessment

VERDICT: Unprofitable (Theatrical)

Major Grom: Plague Doctor earned $4,493,306 against a $10,000,000 budget (-55% ROI), falling short of theatrical profitability. Ancillary revenue may have reduced the deficit.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

Franchise: Major Grom: Plague Doctor is part of the Major Grom Collection.

The underperformance may have increased risk aversion around low-budget action productions.

PRODUCTION NOTES

▸ Development

The film's plot is based on the first story arc of the original comic series, which recounts the struggle of Major Grom with a serial killer hiding under the mask of a plague doctor. In the scenario itself, Bubble Studios planned to leave about 80% of the plot of the original story and add 20% of new content. After the teaser was released, the filmmakers received many unflattering comments related to its political content, both from Russian pro-government structures and from members of the public opposed to the government. leaving only the problem of "uncontrolled crimes of rich people who can get away from the law with their money" and focusing on social inequality instead. Oleg Trofim commented: "It is not relevant anymore to show the heroine as a girl who does not want to decide anything, but wants a dress". The writers deliberately didn't show Grom's origin story, opting to only offer hints throughout the film. Roman Kotkov explained this by saying that superhero origin stories have become boring to audiences. The character of Razumovsky also underwent some changes, especially his motivation: in the film, the Plague Doctor sincerely, albeit using radical methods, wants to make the world a better place, whereas in the comics, he only uses justice as an excuse, while committing murders for his personal gain. There is mention of a "hitman with rat" in the film—the nickname of Demonslayer, one of the key characters in the Bubble comic universe and the protagonist of the comic series of the same name. Holt International, a corporation that designed the Plague Doctor's suit, appears in the Red Fury comic series as a main antagonist.

▸ Casting

The filmmakers tried to use less famous actors as they were dissatisfied with the same few actors playing in many different films. Bubble had difficulties with the casting—in particular, with the selection of a lead actor to portray Igor Grom. Alexander Gorbatov, who played Grom in the short film, did not return to the role due to lack of interest in the project. The search for a new actor took a whole year. According to screenwriter and producer Roman Kotkov, "...we could not even imagine that it was so difficult to find a tall handsome man with intelligence in his eyes in Russia". as well as undergo serious physical training in order to look more athletic. For this, he worked with coaches in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Dmitry Chebotaryov, another actor who took part in the film and who had known Zhiznevsky for a long time, recalls that he and many of Zhiznevsky's other acquaintances would never have thought that their friend would fit the part he was about to play, as he was mainly known for playing romantic roles.

For the role of Sergei Razumovsky, theatre actor Sergei Goroshko was chosen. In order to convincingly play the character, Goroshko compiled a complete biography of the character, from his birth until the events after the film, partly sourcing this from the comics as well as from the film's scriptwriters.

Actor Dmitry Chebotaryov auditioned for both the roles of Igor Grom and Oleg, and, according to the producers, both auditions were successful, but he was eventually selected to play Oleg Volkov. Almost all of his lines were improvised.

Politician Vitaly Milonov was invited to appear in a cameo as himself, since the studio needed a character who would condemn the actions of the Plague Doctor on the in-film television.

▸ Production

After the initial publicity in 2017, there was no new information about the film for two years. On 5 October 2019, continuation of work on the project was announced at IgroMir / Comic-Con Russia. It was announced that the director had been replaced, and instead of Vladimir Besedin, Oleg Trofim was at the helm of the production. The role of Major Grom also changed from Aleksander Gorbatov (ru) to Tikhon Zhiznevsky (ru). Additionally, significant changes had been made to the script.

Filming resumed in Saint Petersburg and the film was initially planned to go on screen in 2019. However, in October of that year, it was announced that it would not be released on the due date. Filming was completed in December 2019. The official first trailer was released on 27 May 2020, a day after Saint Petersburg's anniversary celebrations.

▸ Filming & Locations

If Besedin wanted St. Petersburg to appear Americanized, Oleg Trofim made the city look closer to reality. Trofim lived in St. Petersburg for five years, and art director Dmitry Onishchenko is from there and knows the city well, and this helped when choosing locations. For over two months, Trofim and Onishchenko explored St. Petersburg to find streets that would best be suited for specific moments of the film. Oleg Trofim explained:

"We know classical Petersburg, which is full of Baroque architecture and Art Nouveau. This is the city in which there was a revolution, and Soviet architecture has strongly settled there. We are also familiar with the gangster Petersburg from the 1990s, with its endless networks of courtyards. We were faced with the task of determining which Petersburg to show. As a result, we completely abandoned the Soviet legacy and that of the 1990s and concentrated on the historical part, the one that is timeless, the one that creates the image of St. Petersburg as a majestic palace city".

In addition, the filmmakers decided to alter the layout of the city, as compared to the real St. Petersburg. Column of Alexander palacesqaureDSCN0618.JPG|Palace Square Marble Palace (oriental frontage).jpg|Marble Palace, which became the exterior of a police station Bankovsky Lane SPB 01.jpg|Bankovsky Lane, where Grom bought a shawarma from a stall СПб, Галерная, 55 (Арка) (2).jpg|55 Galernaya Street. The gateway of the house where the "attack" on Pchyolkina took place Saint Petersburg Zodchego Rossi Street 2006-07 1153576020.jpg|Zodchego Rossi Street, scene of the pogroms MATREX. Освещение ночью..jpg|The Matrex building in Skolkovo, Moscow was the prototype for the Razumovsky skyscraper

[Filming locations and scenery] If Besedin wanted St. Petersburg to appear Americanized, Oleg Trofim made the city look closer to reality. Trofim lived in St.

▸ Music & Score

The music for the film was written by composer Roman Seliverstov. The film features symphonic music themes written by Seliverstov specifically for the production, as well as additional licensed songs. The symphonic portion of the soundtrack was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios, in the United Kingdom. Seliverstov insisted that the music be recorded in this particular studio, since, in his opinion, audiences were accustomed to the sound of Hollywood films, and something similar had to be achieved in Major Grom. For the Plague Doctor's theme song, a special musical instrument was created, the "space cello", which resembles a cello but has only two strings, attached to sound boxes by long steel springs. This musical instrument produces an aggressive, metallic sound, which, according to the composer's plan, should emphasize the fearsome character of the antagonist. Oleg Trofim tried to use songs that were "not yet spoiled by their popularity", to help audiences discover new music. During the opening credits of the film, a cover of the song "Peremen!" plays, performed by 15-year-old Taisia Ashmarova. The song heard during the end credits, "", is performed by Levan Gorozia.

List of tracks used in Major Grom: Plague Doctor, published by Yandex Music:

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Summary: 1 nomination total

CRITICAL RECEPTION

Major Grom: Plague Doctor received mixed to positive reviews from Russian critics with review aggregator Kritikanstvo rating it 6,4/10 based on 39 reviews, while KinoPoisk reported a 71% critical approval rating based on 34 reviews. The movie was praised by Kanobu, Mir Fantastiki, Igromania, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, TASS, TJournal, DTF.ru, Elle Girl, and RBK Daily. Others, like Afisha, Film.ru, and TimeOut Russia published mixed reviews, while Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Kino Mail.ru, InterMedia, and Meduza were critical of the movie, and Kommersant published two conflicting reviews.

Many critics praised the film for impressive visuals and the portrayal of a fictionalized version of Saint Petersburg, with an emphasis on the city's atmosphere. The acting, especially by Zhiznevsky and Aksyonova, was also met positively. However, many authors were uncomfortable with the movie's underlying message, which some believed to be anti-liberal and pro-police.

In 2021, the film won the Golden Trailer Award in the category "Best Foreign Action Trailer".