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Klim Kozinsky’s series Noon, the first screen adaptation of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky’s 1979 novel Beetle in the Anthill, premiered on Russian streaming platforms Kion and Okko about two weeks before October 15, 2026. Critic Anton Khitrov praises the three leads but says the supporting cast and the series’ fictional world are less convincing; the reasons for a broader revival of Strugatsky adaptations remain unclear.
Klim Kozinsky’s series Noon, based on Arkady and Boris Strugatsky’s science-fiction novel Beetle in the Anthill, has premiered on Russian streaming services Kion and Okko. The first screen adaptation brings the novel’s 22nd-century intelligence investigation to television as Strugatsky works see a renewed run of Russian screen projects.
The novel, published in 1979, belongs to the writers’ Noon Universe: a future in which humanity has achieved communism and encountered extraterrestrial civilizations. Yet the society is not an uncomplicated utopia. Earth’s intelligence agencies retain power, and secrecy and distrust remain part of life. In the story, COMCON-2 director Rudolf Sikorsky orders agent Maxim Kammerer to watch Lev Abalkin, a returned space explorer whose movements and past have raised suspicions.
Yuri Kolokolnikov plays Kammerer, Maxim Matveyev plays Abalkin, and Leonid Yarmolnik plays Sikorsky. Meduza critic Anton Khitrov describes the three leads as convincing, while saying the supporting characters and the setting are less successful. Matveyev, the report says, prepared for Abalkin’s role by studying material about people with PTSD; Khitrov calls the performance unexpectedly topical.
Producer Danila Sharapov told Kinopoisk that Noon took 18 years to move from concept to premiere. The team hopes to adapt other Noon Universe novels if the series succeeds. The source report does not provide viewership figures or a platform announcement confirming that further adaptations have been commissioned.
A New Screen Life for Noon
The series is part of a wider return of Strugatsky adaptations to Russian film and television after a relatively quiet period in the 2010s. That renewed activity gives audiences new screen versions of a major Soviet science-fiction body of work, while raising the question of how well its imagined societies and ideas translate to contemporary production.
For the makers, Noon may also serve as a test of whether viewers will follow a series into the Strugatskys’ larger future setting. Sharapov’s reported hope of adapting further novels is conditional on the show’s success. No audience results are provided, so it is too early to know whether the series will lead to more projects.
Russian sci-fi TV series streaming
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The Strugatskys’ Adaptation Revival
Screen adaptations of the brothers’ work were limited during much of the 2010s. Aleksei German’s long-delayed film Hard to Be a God was released in 2013, while later activity included short films. Science fiction can be costly and difficult to produce, and the source report says Russian studios faced expectations shaped by the production standards of Hollywood and international television.
By mid-October 2026, several projects were in view: the series Hard to Be a God was due to end on October 15; Noon had premiered about two weeks earlier; and the feature film Dead Mountaineer’s Inn, starring Yevgeny Tsyganov, was scheduled for January. A further series, The Wish Machine, based on Roadside Picnic, was in development. The source report says the projects have different producers and identifies no single hit or anniversary that explains the cluster.
“The project took 18 years to go from concept to premiere.”
— Danila Sharapov, producer, speaking to Kinopoisk
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Questions Around the Series’ Future
The available reporting does not establish why Strugatsky adaptations are appearing more frequently now. It says there is no anniversary, no clear breakout success that triggered imitators, and no obvious change in the authors’ relevance compared with the previous decade. The report offers improved production capacity and the commercial reassurance of a familiar literary name as plausible explanations, not confirmed causes.
It is also unclear how audiences and critics beyond Khitrov will respond to Noon, whether the series will perform well enough to prompt more adaptations, and how later episodes or projects might address the novel’s science-fiction setting. The headline’s question about talking dogs is not answered in the supplied report, which offers no confirmed details about such characters.
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The Next Adaptation Milestones
The immediate next milestone is the scheduled January release of Dead Mountaineer’s Inn, another Strugatsky adaptation, while The Wish Machine remains in development. The source report gives no release date for that series. For Noon, a second adaptation from the Noon Universe is a stated hope from the production team, dependent on the first series’ success; no greenlight, schedule or viewing figures are specified.
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Key Questions
What is Noon based on?
It is based on Beetle in the Anthill, a 1979 novel by Soviet science-fiction writers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky.
Where can viewers watch the series?
The series is airing on Russian streaming platforms Kion and Okko.
Who plays the main characters?
Yuri Kolokolnikov plays Maxim Kammerer, Maxim Matveyev plays Lev Abalkin, and Leonid Yarmolnik plays Rudolf Sikorsky.
Will Noon get more adaptations?
Producer Danila Sharapov said the team hopes to adapt other Noon Universe novels if the series succeeds. No follow-up has been confirmed in the source report.
What other Strugatsky projects are coming?
Dead Mountaineer’s Inn, starring Yevgeny Tsyganov, was scheduled for January, and the series The Wish Machine, based on Roadside Picnic, was in development. The report gives no date for The Wish Machine.
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