The Chinese historical costume drama originally titled ‘Qing Zan Xing’ (now ‘The Legend of Anle’) starred Kris Wu and Yang Zi. However, with Kris Wu being sentenced for crimes such as rape, the drama has been completely ‘shelved’, the production company’s investment went to waste, and both the crew and actors ended up working for nothing. After supplementary filming was completed, an internal screening of the show left entertainment executives collectively silent due to its poor quality.
According to insiders, the internal screening revealed that the extensive green screen scenes from the reshoots were clearly visible, the editing left the plot feeling disjointed, and the costumes and props—filmed back in 2019—looked outdated, which led to negative evaluations from top executives. There’s even consideration of accepting a loss of 400 million RMB (about 240 million MYR) rather than airing it. Reportedly, the production side had approached multiple male stars for a re-shoot, but all declined, and in the end Peng Guanying took the role at a low rate. Yang Zi squeezed 20 days out of her fully packed schedule to return for the reshoots without pay. The original 60 episodes were cut down to 40, focusing on the female lead’s detective storyline in hopes of a turnaround.
Although ‘The Legend of Anle’ has been listed as a pending release and Yang Zi recently won the Best Actress award at the Magnolia Awards, increasing the show’s buzz, the poor quality from the screening has caused top execs to hesitate on whether they should risk airing it. It is reported that Tencent posted a loss of 1.028 billion RMB (about 620 million MYR) in the first half of the year, so whether they can take another 400 million RMB loss is a key consideration. Faced with a drama that has cost over 400 million RMB and dragged on for five years, entertainment executives are at an impasse between quality and financial pressures.
News Source: ETtoday Starlight Cloud