“Auru” Breaks Records Despite Strict 21+ Rating

The Kazakh thriller Auru set a new record in the history of domestic box office releases. The film’s director, Aitore Zholdaskali, announced on his Instagram page how much the movie had earned.

The earnings of Auru have already exceeded 1 billion tenge. This is the first film in Kazakhstan to achieve such results under a “21+” rating. However, according to the director and the film team, due to the strict rating, the movie lost an additional 600–800 million tenge in potential earnings.

“The final week of the screenings has begun. If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t miss your chance,” the film team reminded viewers.

It is worth noting that some violent or brutal scenes were cut from the film. According to the director, the final scene in particular was altered, which changed the conclusion of the film.

By law, films with a “21+” rating can only be shown between 22:00 and 06:00. Nevertheless, this did not prevent Auru from filling theaters.

Half of the record earnings were collected during the first weekend after the premiere: in three days, the film earned 517 million tenge. According to Ticketon.kz, between December 4 and 7, the film earned 33.5 million tenge, and for the past two weeks, Zveropolis 2 has been leading the Kazakh box office.