[3] The film is directed by Dmitry Dyachenko[4][5] and stars Viktor Khorinyak, Mila Sivatskaya, Ekaterina Vilkova, Elena Yakovleva, Konstantin Lavronenko, Sergey Burunov and Philipp Kirkorov.

It is the most recent Disney film released in Russia, as the company paused its business there in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Koschey forges rings, Svetozar enlarges the butterflies - they will be released at the wedding instead of the pigeons eaten inappropriately by the hungry Kolobok, Baba Yaga conjures wings for the hut and invites the newlyweds to fly on it on their honeymoon.

In the midst of preparations for the holiday, evil again reminds itself: Vasilisa is kidnapped, and in the heat of the chase, Ivan and his friends move to modern Moscow.

In the heat of the chase for Galina through the city, Baba Yaga's hut is knocked down by Galina's envoy, a black knight, whose face is hidden under a helmet, as a result of which Koschey, who fell out of the hut, is separated from the group, whose head fell into a car passing along the road and rolled into a bag of groceries.

Kolobok is also on the ship with him, so he and Koshchei’s body have to work together to find the missing head and subsequently get to Ivan, who is depressed by the loss of his bride.

Despite the fact that Koschey exterminated the firebirds in Belogorye long ago, some of the birds survived and, under the threat of the approaching darkness, left their world and moved to Moscow.

Kirkorov has a rather bad attitude towards the proposals of the residents of Belogorye to help them: for him, the magical world has not been of interest for a long time, and his fate is completely indifferent to the bird.

Therefore, the hero, after waiting a moment, decides to steal the egg while the birds are busy eating grain, which turns them into people during the concerts.

The firebird egg cannot be opened so easily: under no circumstances is it exposed to external influences, and even a treasure sword, known for its powers, is not able to cut it in half.

The kikimors, once expelled from Belogorye, devoured human time, and despite the fact that they had long been prohibited from doing this, they found a way to secretly steal it for food in another world.

The hero, driven by the desire to save Vasilisa, does not listen to them and mercilessly pulls out the crystal, thereby destroying the space in which the kikimors lived and depriving them of the food accumulated over a hundred years.

Meanwhile, Galina, hiding behind the guise of Vasilisa, appears at the post office building and deceives Svetozar to take her home.

By connecting the stone and the treasure sword, he helps create a portal to “tomorrow”, and Ivan, stretching his hand into it, opens the egg.

In grief and anger, the hero is eager to kill the scoundrel, but even here he makes a mistake - in a fit of rage, without hesitation, he easily takes the life of Svetozar, to whom Galina temporarily gave her appearance, with his own hand.

Only recent events and his journey to Belogorye began to awaken the light inside Ivan, forcing the hero to resist the darkness.

Having determined that there is still life in her, Yaga gives her a couple of drops of “living water” and revives the girl, curing her from her wound.

Having gone back in time, Ivan, on the shores of the Black Lake, encounters Mikula (the future Koshchei) seconds before he comes into contact with the darkness.

Therefore, Ivan acts differently: realizing that the Messenger cannot harm him, since he sits in his head, the hero simply controls his thoughts, thereby not allowing his dark essence to take over him.

Having been released at the same time as the film Spider-Man: No Way Home, and A Messenger of Darkness collected 498 million rubles at the box office in eight days.