Humanitarian Crisis, Universal Pictures Stops Sending Films To Russia

JAKARTA - Universal Pictures is the latest Hollywood studio to stop shipping its films to Russian theaters, joining Disney, Warner Bros., Sony and Paramount in pulling out their releases after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"In response to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, Universal Pictures has suspended its planned theatrical release in Russia," a Universal spokesperson said in a statement.

Universal was originally set to release the animated "The Bad Guys" in Russia on March 24 and Michael Bay's "Ambulance" to follow on April 7. "The Bad Guys" is a DreamWorks Animation production and voices Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, and Awkwafina.

"Ambulance" stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as bank robbers who, following a heist, confiscate the ambulance and take the driver and passengers hostage.

Quoted from ANTARA, Disney kicked off its wave of action on Monday, March 28, by saying it would pull its releases from Russia, including Pixar's "Turning Red". Warners and Sony quickly followed suit within hours, while Paramount made its own announcement Tuesday, March 1.

Warners was probably the worst hit, with "The Batman" having to be pulled from any studio in Russia. This step was taken just days before its release date.

On Sunday, February 27, the studio had planned to stick to the "The Batman" date. Other notable projects that are no longer set for release in Russia include Paramount's "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" and Marvel and Sony's Jared Leto film, "Morbius".

Major studios pulled their films following a weekend move by the European Union to ban Russia from the SWIFT global interbank messaging system. Without SWIFT, studios may not be able to get their money back from their Russian distribution partners.