I Will Never Let You Go stars Ariel Lin (Old Boy) as the descendant of a mysterious cult who holds the key to a treasure trove, and Zhang Binbin (The King’s Woman) as her Superman / Clarke Kent. The 51 episode drama airs 2 episodes every Tuesday to Thursday on Zhejiang TV / MZTV, and members get a 4 episode head start. [Extended Synopsis]
The show has kept a very low profile since news of the casting was first announced in February. The production team hasn’t opened an official drama account on Weibo either, hence the lack of official stills.
Ariel Lin (Old Boy) is returning to period dramas after 5 years with wuxia romance drama I Will Never Let You Go 小女花不弃, a very loose adaption of Zhuangzhuang’s novel of the same name.
Old Boy is a rom-com about a forty something single father (Liu Ye) who finds love again after meeting a feisty high school teacher (Ariel Lin). Fingers-crossed the adults don’t act like immature teens in this drama.
Lei Jiayin, who got his big break playing the ex-husband in The First Half of My Life plays Liu Ye’s best friend, and Guo Shutong (Yesterday Once More) plays the heroine’s outspoken housemate and good friend. Talented child actor Hu Xianxu, of Nirvana in Fire 2 and A Love for Separation fame, costars as Liu Ye’s rebellious son Xiao Han, who shows up on his father’s doorstep after the death of his mother.
The 45 episode drama will air daily on Hunan TV beginning tonight.
More teasers: Clips 1 – 15
Filming is well underway for Oldboy, and they’ve released a new teaser and more character stills. The drama tells of the ‘sweet romance’ between a pilot and a school teacher, played by Liu Ye (All Quiet in Peking) and Ariel Lin (The Mysteries Family) respectively.
Liu Ye (All Quiet in Peking) will be playing pilot Wu Zheng, the titular Old Boy 老男孩 who finally finds love at the age of 40. Also cast is Ariel Lin (The Mysteries Family) who will be playing the feisty heroine, a high school teacher who returns from overseas.
Please excuse me as I take a trip down memory lane…
The Golden Eagle Awards is a prestigious biannual television awards ceremony, and prides itself on being “the people’s award”. Unlike the Flying Apsaras Awards (government recognition) and Magnolia Awards (industry recognition), Golden Eagle spreads the love more evenly, and usually several dramas and actors are acknowledged.
In previous years, the Best Actor and Actress of the night were decided by online voters and a panel of judges, and presented with the Audience’s Choice award (golden statue) and Best Performing Arts award (crystal statue). This year the two awards were given to different actors, with the nominee that received the most votes from the judges winning the Performing Arts award.
I spent way too long picking a picture of Chen Bolin for this… :P
Director-actress Xu Jinglei‘s 2010 workplace rom-com movie Go Lala Go! (杜拉拉升职记) appears to be gearing up for a sequel, tentatively titled Du Lala’s Wedding (杜拉拉追婚记). The cast has yet to be finalized, though Ariel Lin, Chen Bolin, and Vic Chou are all rumored to be attached to the project.
Du Lala’s Wedding will tell the story of 30-year-old Du Lala, now a confident and capable HR manager, and her desire to settle down with Wang Wei (the male lead from the first installment). However, the arrival of Chen Feng, a new romantic pursuer, and Qu Lao, her new boss, causes her plans to spin out of control.
The Du Lala sequel is scheduled to begin filming in May, according to the news source (which is an unverified Weibo account, so I’d take this all with a grain of salt). The film will be produced by New Classics Media, the company behind movies like Love is Not Blind (失恋33天) and Caught in the Web (搜索), as well as the upcoming drama The Imperial Doctress (女医·明妃传).
New Classics Media Chairman Cao Huayi recently confirmed that his company is indeed preparing to film a sequel to Du Lala starting May, but they’re still negotiating with potential cast members. Should Ariel and Bolin choose to take the roles, this will be their third reunion following their immensely popular 2011 idol drama In Time With You (我可能不会爱你).
The novel Du Lala’s Promotion has previously been adapted into a TV drama starring Wang Luodan, a movie starring and directed by Xu Jinglei, a stage play starring Yao Chen, and an Internet drama starring Xie Nan. (This last one was produced by New Classics Media as well.) The story tells of Du Lala’s arduous eight-year journey through career difficulties and romantic upheavals.
陈学冬: 一口塑料普通话的我也是醉了[拜拜]一年级好看吗？
Me with my mouth full of plastic Mandarin*, I’m also intoxicated. Is Grade One fun to watch?
* “Plastic Mandarin” is a way of referring to Mandarin that is heavily influenced by the Hunan dialects.
Feng Shaofeng and Ariel Lin share a few moments of happiness in the King of Lanling’s ultimately tragic life. The drama comes out August 14th.
Ariel Lin as Yang Xuewu, the focus of the main love triangle in the series.
Upcoming production The King of Lanling stars Feng Shaofeng as the eponymous character, supported by Ariel Lin as his eventual wife and Daniel Chan as his romantic rival. The historical King of Lanling, Gao Changmu, lived in the sixth century during the Northern and Southern dynasties. He was renowned for his prowess in battle, as a great general. He is also the source of the English title of he drama – as “the masked beauty” who had to hide his gorgeous face in battle with a fearsome mask, so that his enemies would take him seriously. Don’t be too optimistic about his ending, though – he was born to a noble family, that went through a total of six emperors within twenty-eight years. The distrust between the various brothers (and uncles and nephews) would lead to numerous murders – the King of Lanling, naturally, attracted jealousy as well. I still think Feng Shaofeng’s face is too manly for the King of Lanling’s beauty, but Ariel Lin has settled into the drama quite nicely.
The trailer can be seen here, and still from the series can be seen below the cut.