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Many cinema professionals have angrily denounced Lost in Russia for "betrayal."

The movie "Reverse Life" directed and starred by Xu Zheng will be officially released on August 9. Chongqing Shenbo International Cinema issued a statement on August 5, saying that in order to fulfill the promise of the "Joint Statement on the Online Premiere of the Movie "Lost in Russia"", it will refuse to screen "Reverse Life".

On August 6, the discussion about Chongqing Shenbo International Cinema's refusal to screen "Reverse Life" was still brewing. Beijing Business Daily contacted the manager of the cinema in question, who said, "The statement was issued by the relevant department of the company. I don't know the relevant situation. I only received a notice from the company asking the cinema not to screen the film."

In addition, Beijing Business Daily reporters noticed that the WeChat public account currently certified as "Shenbo International Cinema" has deleted the relevant statement.

Xu Zheng's film Lost in Russia is the third film in the "囧 series" after Lost in Thailand in 2012 and Lost in Hong Kong in 2015. This is also the first time that Xu Zheng's "囧 series" films have entered the Spring Festival period. The first two works Lost in Thailand and Lost in Hong Kong earned 1.267 billion and 1.614 billion yuan in box office in 2012 and 2015 respectively.

Lost in Russia was originally scheduled to be released in theaters during the 2020 Spring Festival, but due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, all Spring Festival movies, including Lost in Russia, were withdrawn. On the Lunar New Year's Eve, the filmmakers of Lost in Russia suddenly announced that Lost in Russia will premiere online on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Users can watch the full film for free on ByteDance's online video platforms, including Douyin, Xigua Video, Toutiao, and Huanxi Premiere. This is also the first time in history that a Spring Festival movie has premiered online.

At the same time, Huanxi Media issued an announcement stating that the original guaranteed distribution agreement for "Lost in Russia" was terminated, and it signed a copyright licensing agreement with ByteDance for no less than 630 million yuan.

According to the Daily Economic News at the time, netizens watched the movie for free, Xu Zheng got rid of the pressure of "guaranteed release" and obtained a guaranteed income of 630 million, and Toutiao, a video platform under ByteDance, took this opportunity to enter the long video market. This seems to be a "magic operation" that everyone is happy with...

It was not until the afternoon of January 24, 2020 that public opinion began to "reverse", with many theater practitioners angrily denouncing the "treacherous" practice of "Lost in Russia".

According to a previous report by China Securities Journal, the free premiere of Lost in Russia on the Internet platform triggered a boycott by more than 30 theater chains across the country, including Wanda, Jinyi, and Dadi. These protesting theater chains requested the Market Department of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television to urgently stop the free premiere of Lost in Russia on the Internet and regulate the window period of the film.

More than 20,000 film industry practitioners in Zhejiang Province also issued a joint statement, pointing out that Huanshi Media's online premiere "violated the basic rules of the industry."

What are the consequences of "offending" the national cinema chains? At that time, an anonymous insider on Zhihu expressed concern that the cinema chains might reduce the number of screenings.

As Xu Zheng's first theatrical film after Lost in Russia, the total box office of previews and pre-sales of Reverse Life is 24.73 million yuan. There are still four days before the film is released, and it is not yet clear how much the boycott of Shenbo International Cinema will affect the box office and reputation of the film.

It is worth noting that in addition to "Reverse Life", Xu Zheng has another "囧" series movie "囧徒" which has not yet been released. It is also directed and acted by him. The film has been filed in Beijing in 2023.

Editor: Lin Qin, Beijing Business Daily (reporter Han Xinyuan), National Business Daily, Chengdu Business Daily, China Securities Journal, etc.

Pictures丨Sina Weibo @电影囧妈, Sina Weibo @电影逆行人生 video screenshots, Chongqing Shenbo International Cinema WeChat official account, Zhihu screenshots, Daily Economic News WeChat official account, etc.