Salyut-7
Short description
In 1985, the Soviet space station Salyut-7 stops responding to commands from the ground. With the station drifting unmanned, officials send two cosmonauts to dock with the out-of-control craft and determine what went wrong. The mission requires approaching and boarding a large, unpowered object, something that had not been attempted before, and the two men must work to restore the station while the risks of the flight weigh on them. The film is based on the real 1985 recovery mission.
Klim Shipenko directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Bakur Bakuradze and Alexey Chupov. It was Shipenko's first feature as director, followed later by Son of a Rich, The Challenge and further comedies in that series. The cast includes Vladimir Vdovichenkov and Pavel Derevyanko as the two cosmonauts, with Aleksandr Samoylenko, Vitaliy Khaev, Oksana Fandera and Lyubov Aksyonova in supporting roles.
Produced in Russia by CTB Film Company, Vita Aktiva, Lemon Films Studio and Globus-film, the film had a budget of about 15 million dollars and took roughly 14 million dollars worldwide, meaning it did not recover its production cost at the box office. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.8 from around 40,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7.1 from a much smaller base of 527 votes. A critics' rating of 6.8 from 13 reviews places it in line with the audience score on IMDb.
What's left behind the scenes
- The terrestrial and space scenes were divided between the two cinematographers. Ivan Burlakov was responsible for the terrestrial scenes, and Sergey Astakhov for the space scenes.
- The film is based on real events that occurred in 1985. When contact was lost with the Soviet space station “Salyut-7”, Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh were sent into orbit. This was the first time in history that a docking with an uncontrolled object in space had occurred and is considered the most difficult flight in the history of space exploration.
- Filming took 83 days.
- It took 8 months to prepare for filming. Some of the filming took place in the suburbs of St. Petersburg, where a large hangar was used to build sets for the space station, mission control, and a Soviet apartment. Filming also took place in Moscow and the USA.
- While preparing for filming, the lead actors and the director met with real participants of those events – cosmonauts Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh. Some details of their biographies were changed in the film, so the characters played by Vladimir Vdovichenkov and Pavel Derevyanko received different surnames.
- Specialists from "Roscosmos" and the "Energia" Rocket and Space Corporation were involved in the project as consultants.
- The film was initially scheduled for release on April 6, 2017. However, it was ultimately postponed to October 12, 2017.
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