SOFIA: Dimitar Dimitrov’s biopic Gundi – Lengend of Love has set a record for the biggest opening weekend in the modern history of Bulgaria’s film distribution with 726,364 EUR / 1,420,646 BGN gross. Released by NO BLINK on 18 October 2024, this independent production about the football player Georgi Asparuhov–Gundi has gathered 82,363 admissions from 948 screenings across 161 screens.
The film concentrates on the life of Georgi Asparuhov–Gundi, unfolding against the political landscape of Socialist Bulgaria, from his first meeting with his future wife to his tragic death in 1971.
Gundi – Lengend of Love now leads the Bulgarian top 20 all-time openings list, marking it the highest-grossing debut in the history of Bulgarian cinema, beating Fast & Furious 10 (2023), with 571,721 EUR / 1,118,190 BGN, Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) with 557,489 EUR / 1,090,355 BGN, and Avatar 2: The Way of Water (2022) with 532,032 EUR / 1,040,565 BGN.
The previous top-grossing Bulgarian film, Dimitar Mitovsky’s Mission London (2010), now trails significantly behind, having drawn 46,291 admissions and earning 181,569 EUR / 355,120 BGN in its opening weekend.
Gundi– Legend of Love is produced by Ivan Hristov and Andrey Arnaudov through the Bulgarian production company Medium Station. The budget of 2 m EUR was generated independently, without any state financial support.
Mission London is a coproduction between Bulgaria, UK, Hungary, North Macedonia and Sweden. It was produced by SIA Advertising in coproduction with Fidelity Films, Cinematrix Film, Premiere Picture and Dream Factory Macedonia, with the support of the Bulgarian National Film Center, Új Budapest Filmstudio, the Macedonian Film Agency, Film i Väst and Eurimages.