Chinese Comedy ‘Lost in Russia’ to Debut Online for Free After Coronavirus Cancellations1 min read
Reading Time: < 1 minuteChina’s leading film studios were forced to cancel the holiday release of their biggest movies of the year last week after the growing coronavirus epidemic cast a pall over the country’s annual Lunar New Year festivities.
Now, rising film company Huanxi Media is responding to the setback with a bold but fan-pleasing move: The studio has decided to release its much-anticipated comedy tentpole Lost in Russia online for free.
Lost in Russia, directed by and starring comedy superstar Xu Zheng, was widely expected to be one of the big winners of China’s 2020 New Year box office, which, prior to the coronavirus outbreak, was forecasted to generate as much as $1 billion in ticket sales over the coming week. The first two films in the Lost In franchise earned a combined $473 million in 2012 and 2015 — at a time when China’s box office was much smaller than it is now.
Photo Credit: Film still of ‘Lost in Russia’; Huanxi Media
