February 16, 2021 A handout photo. Huanxi’s bet looks sound as movie streaming services have gone from strength to strength amid plummeting box-office revenues. South China Morning Post A year ago, Huanxi Media sent shock waves through the industry when it suddenly decided to cancel theatre screenings and debut the hotly anticipated flick Lost in Russia free online instead, as the onset of the deadly coronavirus forced Chinese cinemas to close. That was on the first day of the Year of the Rat, when few could have predicted the carnage that was to follow as the virus grew to global pandemic proportions , gutting just about every industry that is not web-based .