WK1

Really? Assuming it stays the same, and the budget is 200M RMB, half the money goes toward paying for her services? Wow! That is a lot. Even if it $ 70m RMB, it is still a big chunk of the total budget. But, she is a very high traffic actress. Almost guaranteed to get high viewership in China, which is often used a yardstick of success.

The articles that I read, about actresses being paid top dollars, they often quoted Yang Mi, Zhao Li Ying, Sun Li, Zhou Xun, etc. Reba's name is seldom mentioned. Maybe the authors of those articles are not well informed.

There are those who already subscribed to Youku. They should be able to help you and I heard the subscription is not expensive at all. I am hoping that it will be on WeTV and Viu.

Yang Mi and ZLY are way her senior. Not likely for Reba to command the same kind of salary as those two ladies, but she may not be far behind. Not sure about Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo.

Yes, for sure she did not take this role because of high salary. We have always been saying all along, she needs to play something different than roles like Qiao Jingjing or Li Huizen. Time for her to move on. Most people in China still do not consider these roles as 'serious' and many have complained that she keeps doing the same thing. So, this drama will prove them wrong, that she is willign to do something different, if given the chance.

I do think the budget for this drama is reasonably high. It will be shown on national TV? They cannot have something that looks cheap. YAMG was a very good production. We can tell from the production set, costumes used, etc, it was high budget. The apartment that Reba stayed in, in YAMG, that looks like a very high class apartment. The production people must have rented it at reasonable costs.

But Prosecution Elite need not be that high budget, as it is crime related and courtroom related. Reba will be a prosecutor, not a celebrity, They do not need to dress her up in fancy branded clothes or expensive assessories. Production set will also not be too expensive, as we will be seeing courtroom, police station scenes and so on, not high class apartment or the aerospace stuff.

I will say the production will look way way better than many of the legal dramas I have seen coming out from Hong Kong. Those look really low budget and I have stopped watching them completely. Chinese production has come a long long way.

Who are you referring to? The three ladies whose names and photos were up there? Jiang Xing, Yao Chen and Xuan Quan? These ladies are very senior compared to Reba and many have won multiple acting awards. If they were in the cast, what role will they play? Reba's subordinates? Or some other minor role? Not very likely. Will be an insult to them, honestly,

The current two ladies up there are just fine. Una You is Reba's peer in terms of age. She can easily play Reba's subordinate. Luo Hai Qiong is also very senior with lots of acting experience, but only one acting award. She will not feel bad to play a supporting role and Reba can also learn from her, because of her vast acting experience.

Tong Da Wei will be a great male lead; lots of experience.

So, we do have a great cast. No reason why Reba cannot mix and mingle with this lot, compared to the three ladies, or compared to the previously rumoured male lead.

Did some homework. One of the screenwriters for this drama is Zu Ruomeng. His most recent and most famous work is Crimecrackdown (2021), the top modern drama in China, with view count even higher than YAMG. There were a few screenwriters for this drama, but he could be the main guy. His success in Crimecracken could have landed him in job as the screenwriter for Prosecution Elite. Although Crimecrackdown did very well in China, if you look at the MDL page of this drama, the rating is not very high at all, showing that it may not have lots of appeal to international viewers.

The director for Prosecution Elite is Yu Ding. Very experienced guy. According to dramawiki, he directed more than 10 modern Chinese dramas. He has worked with some big stars in China. Unfortunately, most of these dramas are not very popular overseas, catering mainly to the domestic market.

It would seem that our dear Reba will be shouldering the main burden in luring overseas viewers to this drama. She has lots of overseas fan throughout Asia, so the drama should do well internationally. Domestically, its success is more or less assured, as the screenwriter, director and the entire cast are all well know figures in China.

All of Reba's last four dramas were big budget (TLB, YAMG, TBW, LOA). Do you think a producer with small budget would even dare to approach Reba?? Likely not.

One post in Weibo mentioned that apart from the above entities, Tencent is also involved in the production, via one of its subsidiaries, Penguin Film.

I did some simple calculation. YAMG started filming in end of Sept 2020. An online report said filming ended in Dec 2020. So, that is about 3 months of filming. It yielded 32 episodes, 35 minutes each , total screen time of 1120 minutes.

Assuming they take 4 months to film Prosecution Elite, and the yield is the same, that means about total screen time of 1493 minutes or 33 episodes, each 45 minutes (if we assume that each episode is 45 mins). Booting ceremony was yesterday? They hope to finish filming early July (4 months from booting). One Chinese report (in Weibo) said they hope to submit the film to censorship board for approval in August, for screening in Oct. The article was in Chinese, so hopefully I got it right.

Is that possible?? YAMG, 1120 minutes of screen time. It took post production work, sending for airing license, etc. all in, from Dec 2020, before it got aired in July 2021. A total of 7 months.

Prosecution Elite, with 1493 minutes of screen time, they can finish post production, submit for approval, and aired in Oct, all in about 3 months?

Even if we assume that they can fast track the approval process, can they finish the post production that quickly?? In just about month or so?? Good luck to them, if they feel they can do it. The post production people must have magical skills in film editing, plus putting together background music, OSTs, etc. all in about a month. It must have taken the YAMG team at least 3 months, for a shorter drama.

Where is the source of this information? The only way they can make it on time is if the number of episodes is around 24.

No way they can air this in Oct. You are my glory has 32 episodes, each only 35 mins. It took them 10 months from booting (Sept 2020) to airing (July 2021).

This drama has 40 episodes (according the MDL page) each 45 mins. More episodes, and longer duraction per episodes. Simple math will tell us, it will be early next year before we see this drama. Even if they were to trim to 30 episodes, it will still be around Jan 2023 before we see this. If they stick to 40 episodes, could well be next March.

So, the suggestion that they can air this by Oct, just another rumour not worth wasting our time over. This is another rumour that can easily raise our expectations, only to let us down. When I first saw it in Twitter, I just laughed it off as baseless speculation.

That is true. Goes to show that she has a face that is totally malleable. With good skill, one can shape her to be look like anyone between 20-35. This photo makes her look around 20 (or even less). The make-up and dressing in YAMG does make her look her actual age of 29, and, in the later episodes, even mid-30s.

And Anarharn was her debut project. This feels almost like a reunion with CCTV, after nearly 10 years! The people at CCTV can see how much she has grown, and how far she has come, over these last 10 years. Especially those where involved in the production of Anarharn, and who are still around in CCTV.

Wow! And GHP isn't even aired and may well never. But, that is what business is all about. You win some, you lose some. GHP was produced by Tencent? They must have made alot from YAMG. Should have compensated for the lost in GHP.

Maybe not high school, but certainly like a girl fresh into college. Like all those girls in My Left Side.

Very little doubt about that. If necessary, they can always use some filters to 'age' her a bit. It is just amazing how young she looks, without all those heavy make up. Certainly look way younger than she did in YAMG. Must be the baseball cap and this particular hairstyle that made her look like a high school kid.

No one here is going to complain, if it airs in Oct. Just not sure if it is possible to get so many things done in such a short time. Filming just started today. Just think it is way too early for anyone to make such a forecast, and for the rest of us to take it seriously. If they rush the filming and post production process just to make the Oct deadline, quality will suffer.

Filming just started today. So we are only likely to view the drama many months down the road.

Those of us who are on that page are just having fun among ourselves, while we wait for The Blue Whisper to start.

You can join us anytime you wish

Song is great!! And her singing of the song was also great. Does not have any high notes at all.

Exactly my thoughts too!! I think the make up and hairdo people got their work cut out for them, to turn this baby into a courtroom warrior!

She does not need any branded clothes to look good, does she?? And here, she does not even look 29, going on 30. Looks like a girl in her early 20s. Such a wonderful shot of our dear Reba, forever our idol.