‘Lost In Russia’ was Played Free Online After Deal With TikTok Owner

Normally, the Spring Festival holiday is the Chinese box office’s most lucrative period. This year though, the coronavirus caused China to close thousands of cinemas around the Spring Festival. This meant all of 2020’s most highly anticipated Chinese blockbusters saw their releases canceled.

Lost in Russia is one of seven that was pulled from theatres on the eve of Chinese New Year. Yongguan Cai, a stuff of Huanxi Media, was interviewed by email and told me some information about Lost in Russia.

Yongguan Cai, 49 years old. Picture from Yongguan Cai himself.

“Huanxi Media made a US$91 million deal with tech giant Bytedance to stream the comedy Lost in Russia for free on TikTok and other Bytedance platforms.”
Yongguan Cai said.

Lost in Russia is a significant one and the comedy film’s two predecessors, Lost In Thailand and Lost In Hong Kong, were box office smashes, taking $191m and $234m respectively.

The poster of Lost in Russia. Picture from Baidu.

Just like previous “Lost In” series members Lost on Journey, Lost in Russia features Xu Zheng as both director and lead actor. In Lost in Russia, Xu plays a middle-aged businessman named Xu Ivan. In the midst of divorce proceedings, Xu wants to fly to New York but his mother Lu Xiaohua took his passport. While trying to get it back, ends up trapped on the K3 Beijing to Moscow Trans-Siberian train with her. Lu exemplifies the classic overbearing Chinese mother. Xu yearns to escape from the train but can’t help but get drawn back to her. The two finally arrived in Russia after many difficulties, and both of them realize that they must learn how to balance love with independence. What’s more, this movie also doesn’t shy away from addressing darker topics like divorce and domestic abuse.

The film was played more than 600 million times by 180 million households in three days, through Bytedance-owned platforms including Douyin, Toutiao, Xigua Video, Huoshan and Wasu Fresh Time. In Hubei province, the epicenter of the virus outbreak, the film was viewed more than 25 million times.
Yongguan Cai said.

When asked if he would recommend the British to watch the film, Yongguan Cai said: “Lost in Russia shows Chinese-style affection and it is suitable for the whole family to watch together. But as a comedy, I was also worried that people in the UK couldn’t understand the comedy elements.”

If you are interested in this film, you can watch it on Youtube for free.