Who will play Bender in the new adaptation of 'The Twelve Chairs'? You won't guess...

Director Sarik Andreyasyan, who as a filmmaker has released dozens of films and series ('Life on Call', 'Chikatilo', 'Prostokvashino', 'Unforgiven'), and as a producer has delivered over a hundred projects, has recently turned his gaze to Russian classics.

In 2024, 'Onegin' by Andreyasyan was released, featuring 40-year-old Viktor Dobronravov in the title role and Tatiana Larina played by the director's wife, Liza Moryak. Currently, he is working on 'War and Peace', where his spouse plays Helene Kuragin, and the role of Natasha Rostova is portrayed by 20-year-old Polina Gukhman.

And here’s another piece of news that Sarik shocked everyone with on his social media: he is taking on the novel by Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov, 'The Twelve Chairs'! Filming will begin in the summer of next year.

"There is a lot of work ahead, and we can’t wait to share the first details," Andreyasyan wrote on his Telegram channel.

Currently, work is underway on the script (it is not specified who is working on it) and casting actors. The names of the performers have not yet been announced, but there is little doubt that Pavel Priluchny and Liza Moryak will be involved. They played the parents of Uncle Fyodor in the recent 'Prostokvashino', starred in 'Life on Call', and hardly any project by Andreyasyan goes without this pair. "The scam that made history," reads the slogan of the film, posted on its first poster.

Let us remind you that the immortal novel by Ilf and Petrov, 'The Twelve Chairs', was written in 1927 and published a year later - thus, in 2027, the work will celebrate its centenary. During this time, it has undergone several adaptations.

In 1966, director Alexander Belinsky made a television play in which Igor Gorbachyov played the role of Bender, and Nikolai Boyarsky played Kisa Vorobyaninov.

In 1971, in Leonid Gaidai's film, Ostap was played by Archil Gomiashvili, and Madame Gricatsuyeva was portrayed by Natalia Krachkovskaya.

Five years later, the main adventurer of our literature was played by Andrei Mironov, and Gricatsuyeva was portrayed by Lydia Fedoseeva-Shukshina in Mark Zakharov's production.

There were also adaptations in 2004 (directed by Ulrike Ottinger) and 2005, where Bender was played by Nikolai Fomenko, Kisa by Ilya Oleinikov, the cannibal Ellochka by Anzhelika Varum, and Gricatsuyeva by Nina Usatova (directed by Maxim Papernik).

We are looking forward to a new interpretation of the adventures of the leader of the nobility and the great schemer!