news

On August 5, a cinema in Guizhou issued a statement through its official account to boycottXu ZhengThe new filmRetrograde Life”, which aroused heated discussion.

The cinema said in a statement that they knew that as a cinema, the impact on a movie's box office was minimal, and that cinemas should not take the initiative to give up the summer box office, but they firmly believed that the rules of the film industry required all practitioners to consciously abide by them.

As for why they "boycotted" and refused to screen Xu Zheng's "Reverse Life", the theater explained that they were fulfilling the promise made in the 2020 "Joint Statement on the Online Premiere of the Movie "Lost in Russia"". "Time may make people forget, but there will always be people who remember the importance, fairness and urgency of consciously abiding by the rules of the film industry."

The cinema also emphasized in the statement that they would not elaborate on the specific reasons and the ins and outs, nor call on anyone to support their actions, nor accept anyone's opposition to their actions. Although they are small and imperfect, they do this precisely because of their love for movies, "to encourage filmmakers to abide by their duties, respect and fairness."

In fact, the incident mentioned in the cinema’s statement has been more than 4 years ago. Many people may have forgotten Xu Zheng’s actions back then. Let me give you a brief review:

During the 2020 Spring Festival, when the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing, the films "Lost in Russia" and "Detective Chinatown 3》《Vanguard》 and many other films have chosen to withdraw from the schedule, and some cinemas across the country have also announced temporary closures.

In fact, whether it is the film producers or the cinemas, their choices are understandable. After all, during that special period, almost no one went to the cinema to watch movies, and the film producers also wanted to wait until the situation improved so that they could sell more box office tickets.

However, "Lost in Russia", directed and acted by Xu Zheng, took a different approach. After being withdrawn from offline cinemas, it directly chose to cooperate with an online video platform to broadcast the film online for free for audiences to watch.

Xu Zheng's move was a first and won the support of many netizens. At that time, many viewers said that they "owed Xu Zheng a movie ticket" and believed that his approach was "benefiting the people."

Why did Xu Zheng change the originally planned Lunar New Year film to a free online broadcast? What kind of exchange of interests was behind this? We don't know, but what is certain is that his approach pleases the audience but also offends many people.

On New Year's Eve of that year, the Zhejiang film industry issued a statement on the online premiere of the movie "Lost in Russia", bluntly saying that the Internet premiere of the movie "Lost in Russia" produced by Huanxi Media was an act of undermining the basic rules of the industry and firmly condemned it. Subsequently, more theaters spoke out to condemn the producer of "Lost in Russia" and Xu Zheng.

In fact, it is easy to understand why the film industry would have such an attitude. After all, the film's early publicity and materials have been invested, so who will bear the loss? More importantly, Lost in Russia has set a precedent. If many movies follow suit and choose to broadcast online, how will offline cinemas survive?

Both parties are definitely pursuing their own interests, and as far as the online broadcast of the movie "Lost in Russia" is concerned, the film company will definitely suffer less losses than the theaters, and it can even be said that they will benefit more.

In short, in the eyes of cinema industry practitioners, Xu Zheng disregards the lives of his peers for his own interests and even violates industry rules, so how can he not be condemned?

I just didn't expect that after 4 years there are still cinemas that are so persistent. This shows how big an impact Xu Zheng's actions back then had on them, which is why they are still resentful 4 years later.

It is worth mentioning that Xu Zheng's new film has not yet been officially released, but there have been many complaints online, questioning that he "makes fun of the lower class" and mocking that "ordinary people pay to watch him play the daily lives of ordinary people." Some netizens also said, "I paid to watch a rich man play a poor man, but when the movie ended and I returned to reality, he became even richer."

Some media even bluntly stated that "Reverse Life", directed and acted by Xu Zheng, is more like a "commodity": he talks about art and reality, but thinks about box office and business.

Now, the film has been refused to be shown by cinemas before it is officially released, and other cinemas may follow suit in the future. I wonder how Xu Zheng will deal with these "controversies" next?