The new sequel to a classic Soviet melodrama movie Irony of Fate (Ironiya Sudbi) has broken all previous records for the Russian box office, with older viewers making their first trip to cinema houses in many years.

Released on the eve of the New Year and still being screened in film theatres, Irony of Fate: Continuation fetched $48.5 million in the former Soviet Union, in the first 23 days of its release.

According to a spokesperson of the Russian state-owned Channel One television channel, which produced the film, the new movie may well cross the $50 million mark.

The previous record was held by the 2006 supernatural thriller “Day Watch,” which earned just under $35 million, trailed by last year’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, with $31.8 million.

The original Irony of Fate was made by renowned Russian director Eldar Ryazaov in 1975. It opens with a prelude saying that such a story could only have taken place on New Year’s Eve.

The script plays on the similarity of houses in Soviet times. Many people across the country lived in almost identical apartment buildings.

The new Irony of Fate film is not a remake of the original, but a continuation of the story, the producers of the film claimed.

It is directed by Timur Bekmambetov, famous for his Day Watch and Night Watch fantasy thrillers. He said he was not afraid to be compared to the outstanding Eldar Ryazanov.

In the new film the action takes place in 2005. Fate continues to play jokes on the children of the main characters. There are many references to the original film, as its characters find themselves in the same situations.