Will Lost Money If You Watch the Movie for Free? Why Did Lost Money Stream for Free on the First Day of the Lunar New Year?

Lost in Russia is being broadcast online for free on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Toutiao has monopolized the copyright, which is simply inhumane! In fact, this news is good news for the majority of netizens, but will it have an impact on the movie box office, or what about the advertising revenue? Will Xu Zheng lose money by making the movie free to watch? Why did he choose to release it for free on the first day of the Lunar New Year? Let's take a look below!

Will I lose money if I watch the movie Lost in Russia for free?

ByteDance spent more than 630 million yuan to buy the online broadcast of Lost in Russia

In fact, even without the epidemic, if Lost in Russia was released in theaters normally, the box office would hardly exceed 2 billion. Moreover, the theaters may have to postpone it until May. In addition, due to the impact of the epidemic, even if it can be released in theaters in the end, people are panicked and some people dare not go to the theaters. Whether the box office can exceed 800 million is also a question. Online broadcast can be said to be an attempt under the current epidemic.

If it was shown in cinemas, assuming that Lost in Russia had a box office of 1.8 billion, the producers would only get about one-third to 40%, which is about 600 million to 700 million. Now ByteDance has directly given 630 million. In fact, from the perspective of revenue, the producers are actually making money because Lost in Russia would have difficulty making 1 billion at the box office during the Spring Festival when there are so many strong competitors. The current online broadcast method may actually bring in more revenue. Moreover, online broadcast does not mean that the film will not be shown in cinemas. Maybe the cinemas will continue to show it at that time, making money both online and offline. This can be said to have opened up a new model for the release of Chinese films.

If ByteDance's broadcast model is successful this time, future movies may be played online + offline simultaneously, or with a short time difference. Although this model may reduce offline audiences and revenue, the online revenue can completely make up for the offline losses, and the overall box office revenue may even exceed that of a simple offline release. Of course, Lost in Russia, which is expected to have a box office of more than 1 billion yuan, is the most suitable for trying this new model.

However, Chinatown, which is expected to have a box office of 4.5-5 billion, is not suitable, because if you want to buy Chinatown, it may cost more than 2 billion, and the risk is too high. So overall, Lost in Russia is really the most suitable for exploring this new model under the current special situation.

Why is Lost in Russia free online on the first day of the Lunar New Year?

The current level of operation deserves to be recorded in the history of Chinese film.

On the one hand, due to commercial competition, the cooperation (operation) of "Lost in Russia" was like a small effort with a big effort, and it attracted the same level of attention as the early preparations of Kuaishou, which is S-level.

On the other hand, it is determined by the nature of the film itself. This is probably the most suitable film for the family to watch during the Spring Festival, and (probably) there are no big action scenes. In addition, the early previews have a good reputation, and there is no scandal like Director Chen that people have to wear masks to watch it.

If we can take a closer look, will this operation allow all leading domestic film and television and Internet companies to discover a new treasure of profit model? In the future, can this be used as a starting point for a Netflix-like model to take root and rise in the Chinese film market, reconstructing the business logic of the film and television industry? It is worth looking forward to.

What do you think of the free online version of "囧妈" on the first day of the new year?

ByteDance paid at least 630 million yuan to buy Xu Zheng's Lost in Russia, and it was screened online for free on the first day of the Lunar New Year. It was a win-win-win operation.

Xu Zheng has gained a good reputation, and if the box office revenue is divided according to the 630 million yuan, it will take at least 1.5 billion yuan in box office revenue to make back the profit, so it is not a loss.

ByteDance has increased its favorability and earned traffic, and can also take advantage of the Chinese New Year to push Toutiao's content further down the chain.

On the first day of the new year, we have something to look at and talk about at home, so this year won't be too miserable.

Finally, I have to say that Zhang Yiming is really rich!