‘Forever Young’ is Zhang Ziyi’s top earner
We’re willing to accept any kind of comments and criticisms, but this kind of action is like a cancer to the film industry, tantamount to a homicide. Publicist for ‘Forever Young’
BEIJING: For award-winning Zhang Ziyi, this Lunar New Year is going to be her most lucrative ever.
Her latest movie film Forever Young has surprised everyone with a robust performance at the box office, chalking up 670 million yuan (RM421.2 million.
That eclipses the box office takings of The Grandmaster (2013), in which she also had a starring role.
Forever Young has also been very lucrative for co-stars like Huang Xiaoming, Wang Leehom and Zhang Zhen.
Despite the box office conquest, a publicist for Forever Young was not amused by the unethical methods being used by rival movie producers.
As reported on Tencent, initially, Forever Young received poor online reviews on Chinese review sites like Douban and Taoban.
But an increasing number of moviegoers gave it a five-star rating, and it went on to become the best movie of the month.
This apparent charade sparked allegations that the initial ratings were done as part of a smear campaign, in which rival producers pay netizens to ruin their rivals’ chances at the box office.
Complained the unnamed publicist, “We’re willing to accept any kind of comments and criticisms, but this kind of action is like a cancer to the film industry, tantamount to a homicide.”
Some critics also slammed the practice, saying that one could like or dislike a movie without trampling on the whole film industry.
Aside from Zhang, the new movie boasts star-studded performances by Huang Xiaoming, Chang Chen, Wang Leehom, Michelle Yim, and Yao Chen.
Forever Young was written and directed by Li Fangfang. It focuses on four generations spanning a hundred years of modern Chinese history since World War II.
The film entered production in early 2012, with principal photography concluding in the same year. Filming locations included Beijing, Yunnan, Gansu and Guangdong.
However, it was dogged by issues before getting a cinematic release this year.