"Lost in Russia" is broadcast online for free, and theaters collectively boycott it! The controversy behind it makes people think deeply

"Lost in Russia" is the first free online broadcast, which is undoubtedly a nuclear explosion for the cinema chain. The classic cooperation model of the cinema chain has been broken, which is bound to infringe on the interests of some of them. As a result, 23 cinema chains jointly boycotted the online premiere of "Lost in Russia", and the National Film Administration has not yet given any response.

Special factors that led to the free online broadcast of Lost in Russia

The sudden outbreak of the novel coronavirus was the most direct reason why Lost in Russia chose to premiere online. All movies scheduled for the Spring Festival announced that they would withdraw from the schedule. As a New Year's film, it is greatly affected by time factors. Losing the golden schedule in spring will face greater cost pressure. It is said that Xu Zheng made a gambling agreement for the movie Lost in Russia, and if he is not careful, he will suffer a huge economic loss.

Whether it was Toutiao's olive branch or Xu Zheng's initiative to contact Toutiao, Toutiao purchased the online broadcasting rights of "Lost in Russia" for 630 million yuan and provided it to netizens for free on the first day of the Chinese New Year!

The main reason why 23 theaters jointly boycotted the online premiere of "Lost in Russia"

The online premiere of "Lost in Russia" is an established fact. Let's take a look at the demands of these 23 theaters!

1. What rules did Lost in Russia break?

1. As a theatrical film, avoiding traditional cinemas and changing to online premiere means that the window period for the film's release is shattered, which will cause damage to China's film industry and distribution mechanism, and have a demonstration effect;

2. Cinema film review is more complete and systematic, and requires high capital investment. Cinemas across the country have invested a lot of money to promote Lost in Russia, and this will divert moviegoers.

2. How do we hope the National Film Administration will deal with the practice of Lost in Russia?

1. Urgently stop the free Internet premiere of "Lost in Russia" and hold a hearing and demonstration within the industry;

2. Abolish all kinds of "zero window period" screening modes in cinemas.

3. What measures will the 23 cinema chains take?

1. Cinemas will boycott Huanxi Media and Xu Zheng's films to a certain extent;

2. If similar situations occur in the future, the theater company will refuse all cooperation with it;

3. The cinema chain and its affiliated theaters reserve the right to pursue legal action for losses caused by the free online premiere of “Lost in Russia”.

My personal opinion on the online premiere of Lost in Russia

Why did the theaters jointly boycott "Lost in Russia"? The main reason is that they saw the huge impact that the pioneering free online broadcasting model will have on theater movies, and the fixed profit distribution model will be broken. For consumers, the emergence of any new model is a good model as long as it is beneficial to moviegoers (free online broadcasting is just like this). The inherent model should not remain unchanged, and a good model should be broken when it emerges. But there is a problem here. "Lost in Russia" is positioned as a theater movie. How should the early theater movie review and publicity costs be calculated (how can major theaters obtain their own vested interests? This is worth discussing. The emergence of any new model will have various problems to be solved)?

Let's talk about this issue from the perspective of the viewing experience! I spent two hours watching the movie "Lost in Russia" last night. To be honest, watching a movie through a mobile phone is not as shocking as watching it in a theater, especially the emotional mobilization of watching a movie in a group. The viewing experience in the theater is something that the Internet platform cannot stop providing to users. Therefore, once the problem of theaters collectively banning Xu Zheng occurs, the lethality will be huge. Let's wait patiently and see how the National Film Administration will respond!

What do you think about 23 theater chains jointly boycotting the online premiere of "Lost in Russia"?