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Hitler Kaput Storms Box Office
Marius Veisburg's Hitler Kaput, about a Russian spy who infiltrates Hitler’s bunker during the last year of WWII, earned $5.2 million (£2.84 million) domestic in its opening weekend (20th – 21st September 2008), out-performing Journey to the Center of the Earth which earned $1.4 million (£764,650) on the same weekend (its second of release). The only other Russian film released that weekend, Filipp Yankovsky's Stonehead, earned only $362,000 (£197,716), although it showed on less than half the number of screens as Hitler Kaput.
The film is based on the 1973 TV series 17 Moments of Spring, which was based on a series of novels by Yulian Semyonov and directed by Tatiana Lioznova. In the film the lead TV character Stirlitz was changed to Shurenberg and was played by Pavel Derevyanko.
Despite its success at the domestic box-office, the film was not welcomed everywhere. Politicians in St Petersburg called for it to be banned, with Anton Grubankov, head of the city’s cultural committee, commenting that, ‘In my opinion, it's a tasteless parody and has no relation whatsoever to the art of cinema.’ [ADD]