OREANDA-NEWS  The new owners of Bazelevs, directed and produced by Timur Bekmambetov, were the general producer of the film studio Lala Rustamova and general director Timur Asadov, the press service of the studio told Interfax.

The transaction is still being structured and will be completed within a few months.

It is noted that the deal did not affect the advertising business of Bazelevs, the head and co-owner of which remained Ekaterina Tkachenko.

In the SPARK-Interfax database, Rustamova is listed as the beneficiary of Bazelevs LLC, and Asadov is the CEO.

"Timur Bekmambetov has long wanted to retire from business and focus on creativity. Since 2021, he has practically not been busy with the affairs of the Russian studio - we have already done all projects, starting with "Christmas Trees 8", without his participation as a producer. For us - a young team of producers, and for Timur it was important to see that we can independently conduct successful activities. After the success at the box office of the relaunch of the franchise - "Christmas Trees 9" - we received funds to finance the purchase of the studio," said the general producer of "Bazelevs" Lala Rustamova, whose words are quoted in the message.

The release of "Christmas Trees 9" took place on December 1, the film topped the Russian film distribution and held the lead for two weeks, fees have already exceeded 370 million rubles, the report says.

The rights to the Russian-language library of films produced by the studio are retained in the Russian company. "American production, functioning as an independent company, remains with Timur Bekmambetov. Both companies in the USA and Russia are potentially waiting for a rebranding and a name change," the report says.

The main markets for the work of Bazelevs will be Russia and the CIS countries. A new direction will be the development of business in the Turkic-speaking countries and, above all, in Turkey. In Russia, Bazelevs will develop major event projects that can potentially become franchises, the press service reported.

In particular, two new projects will be launched in 2023 - for the Day of Knowledge - September 1 and for the International Women's Day. In 2023, the tenth anniversary part of the New Year's franchise "Christmas Trees" will be released. We are currently working on her script.