The Master and Margarita (2024 film)

The Master and Margarita (Мастер и Маргарита), titled Woland during production, is a Russian fantasy-drama film directed by Michael Lockshin and based on Mikhail Bulgakov's novel of the same name. It stars August Diehl as Woland, a diabolical foreigner who visits Moscow, Yevgeny Tsyganov as the eponymous Master, and Yuliya Snigir as Margarita, the Master's lover.

The film's release was pushed multiple times and was released on 25 January 2024, to mostly positive reviews. The movie quickly became the highest-grossing movie released with a 18+ content rating ever in Russia, with over 2 billion rubles in the box office.

Premise
In 1930s Moscow, a prominent writer's works are suddenly censored by the Soviet state and the premiere of his theatrical play about Pontius Pilate is canceled for ideological reasons. He is expelled from the Union of Soviet Writers, and quickly turns into an outcast with no means to survive.

Inspired by Margarita, his lover, he begins working on a new novel in which all the characters are satirically reinterpreted from his life. The novel's central character is Woland, a mystical dark force who visits Soviet Moscow as a tourist, and avenges all those who caused the writer's downfall.

As the writer sinks himself deeper and deeper into his novel, adding himself and Margarita as characters, he gradually stops noticing as the border between reality and his imagination fades away.

Main cast

 * August Diehl as Woland, the Devil who visits Moscow
 * Yevgeny Tsyganov as the Master, a writer desperate to survive
 * Yuliya Snigir as Margarita, the Master's lover
 * Claes Bang as Pontius Pilate, the main character of the Master's novel
 * Yuri Kolokolnikov as Korovyev, Woland's right-hand man
 * Aleksey Rozin as Azazello, a sharpshooter in Woland's entourage
 * Polina Aug as Hella, a succubus in Woland's entourage / Gala, an aspiring actress
 * Yura Borisov as the voice of Behemoth, Woland's cat

Supporting cast

 * Leonid Yarmolnik as Dr Stravinsky, the head of the insane asylum
 * Jana Sekste as Praskovya Fedorovna, the nurse in the insane asylum
 * Igor Vernik as George Bengalsky, the People's Artist of the USSR
 * Marat Basharov as Stepan Likhodeyev, the director of the theatre
 * Aleksei Guskov as Boris Maigel, the former baron who now serves as the NKVD agent
 * Yevgeny Knyazev as Mikhail Berlioz, the editor-in-chief of the literary magazine
 * Danil Steklov as Ivan Bezdomny, a naive young poet that Woland first meets in Moscow,
 * Aleksandr Yatsenko as Aloisy Mogarych, a scriptwriter and a friend of the Master
 * Dmitriy Lysenkov as Osaf Latunsky, one of the critics who destroys the Writer's career
 * Pavel Vorozhtsov as Ivan Varenukha, the house-manager of the theatre
 * Valery Kukhareshin as Grigory Rimsky, the treasurer of the theatre
 * Arkady Koval as Archibald Archibaldovich, the director of the restaurant
 * Nikita Tarasov as the NKVD investigator
 * Sofya Sinitsyna as Frida
 * Aaron Vodovoz as Yeshua Ha-Nozri, a character of the Master's novel
 * Makram Khoury as Caiaphas, a character of the Master's novel
 * Sergei Frolov as the skeptical viewer
 * Denis Pyanov as Nikanor Bosoy, the chairman of the house committee
 * Aleksandr Tyutin as Zheldybin, the chairman of the Union of Soviet Writers
 * Sergey Belyayev (actor) as Andrei Sokov, the barman at the theatre
 * Agrippina Steklova as Nastasya Nepremenova, member of the Union of Soviet Writers (writing under the pen-name Bosun George)
 * Valentin Samokhin as Hieronymus Poprikhin, a novelist and a member of the Union of Soviet Writers
 * Olga Ozollapinya as Pelagea Antonovna, Bosoy's wife
 * Yevgeny Kharitonov as the doorman of the Dramlit House
 * Ilya Slanevsky as Gindin, the actor who played Yeshua in the theatre
 * Mariya Dubina as Anna
 * Oleg Nazarov as Vyacheslav, Margarita's husband
 * Dmitry Vorontsov as Jacques, the first guest at Woland's ball

Production
In 2018, the film was announced as being in production, with two major Russian producers helming the project: Ruben Dishdishyan and Igor Tolstunov. Nikolai Lebedev was set to direct. By 2020, however, the project still had not taken off. At some point, Lebedev had left the project.

Instead, Michael Lockshin, director of The Silver Skates, co-wrote a new script with Roman Kantor in 2020 and directed the film in 2021. The new script intertwined the novel with Bulgakov's life. The film had a working title Woland. The producers were Ruben Dishdishyan, Igor Tolstunov and Leonard Blavatnik.

In July 2021 it was announced that August Diehl will be playing Woland.

Filming began in July 2021 in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Malta, and concluded in October 2021.

Mars Media announced that the film would be released on January 1, 2023, with Universal Pictures acting as distributor.

In August 2022, it was announced that the release date would be pushed to late 2023, due to Universal Pictures leaving Russia over the Russian invasion of Ukraine and problems with funding the film's post-production. In July 2023, it was announced that the film would be pushed once again to 25 January 2024.

In April 2023 the producers announced that they would change the title of the film from Woland to The Master and Margarita.

Reception
The film was released to positive reviews from Russian press. Film critic Anton Dolin called it "the first good adaptation" of Bulgakov's novel and the "best commercial movie in modern Russian history". Many viewers also noted the timeliness of the film, as the period piece reflected on news from contemporary Russia. Diehl's performance as Woland was praised by reviewers from Komsomolskaya Pravda and RBK.

On release day, the film opened to 57.3 million rubles. By its second weekend, the film had made 1 billion rubles, according to the Cinema Foundation of Russia. By March, the movie became the highest-grossing movie released with a 18+ content rating ever in Russia, with over 2 billion rubles in the box office.

The movie was targeted by nationalist activists and pro-Putin public figures, including Zakhar Prilepin, Tigran Keosayan and Vladimir Solovyev, who complained about the director's anti-war views on the war in Ukraine, the themes of the film allegedly being anti-regime, and the fact that the Ministry of Culture had provided funding for the film, and demanded a criminal investigation into the film and into Lockshin himself. However, according to the director, when the propagandists started their attack, the movie had already gained notoriety and success after its first week at the box office, so the authorities did not intervene to stop distribution.