theotherayn

I don't think they were expecting a hit but I do think they thought it would do better. not breaking 5k heat within the VIP drop means WXY's die hard fanbase is not large yet but oh well, that's how careers go. at least the production company didn't spend on marketing so their profit margin should be higher lol. let's just hope he makes a comeback with good dramas next year.

December Schedule:

Dec 7 - Magazine Shoot (maybe for the rumored Tiffany endorsement?)
Dec 31 - New Year's Eve Gala (Hunan/Mango TV)

the rest of the time will be spent filming Bao Hu.

🍉Project Updates:

Shadow Detective - is not doing too well, it's been hovering at less than 5k heat which is just at the level of your average short drama (iQiyi's more popular revenue-sharing dramas can break 7k at least.) But the production company has bought only 6 hotsearches* and no douyin push streams so they're not really marketing it either and it's hard to gauge if this is already enough for their expectations.

*for additional context: TWD had 296 hotsearches, and one of iQiyi's most profitable revenue-sharing drama had 201 hotsearches.

Confession and Xing Zhi Wan - no updates from any of the reliable melon owners.

haha I know enough of the MDL algorithm to look at the number of ratings and the theme before I judge a drama. it bothers me more when people rate a show after only a few episodes.

I like the directing and cinematography better than TWD but I agree with the other commenter that it's nothing really new. the writing of the FL is nothing special and it does that cdrama thing where the ML is interestingly shady in the beginning but suddenly gets heart eyes/guilt and becomes the good guy without enough character beats to support it.

there just might be some trolls immediately downrating the show. I remember it happened when TWD started airing too (the only difference was that they were noisy in the comments lol.) it will settle more once all the episodes are out.

a glimpse of Wang Qianyuan with WXY
http://xhslink.com/o/95QliI7mACo

Cai Wenjing on set
http://xhslink.com/o/AQQDZk6ziWg

feng he giving duke su flashbacks in red
http://xhslink.com/o/8wTviOx4ayI

looks like he's fighting again
http://xhslink.com/o/4fTYircJeNv

non-drama related but lol WXY is so funny
http://xhslink.com/o/2RsEiCtATjJ

Bai Lu visited the set and treated everyone to milk tea
https://x.com/dablcpnk2/status/1993973208203293181
https://x.com/bailuniverse/status/1993961409982681594

I think iQiyi put it up early in China, the first episode is around 30min. idk now if it's considered a long or short drama🤣

schedule just posted: https://kisskh.at/photos/nOlVb4_3

Nov 27-30 for VIP members, non-VIP starts Dec 4.

EDIT: nevermind, iQiyi put it up early in China but was a little late on the international side🤣

quality dramas, whether long or short, will always have an audience though. we can only hope WXY chooses some good ones in his career and he has years to go yet.

sorry to hear that. douyin kicks me out all the time since I can't sign up for an account but I know a thai fan @yunmeng_wang on tiktok often reposts all of the reuters, you'll just have to wade through all of the wxy content. @wang_xingyue_fans on IG also has some of them.

thank you! tbf he hasn't really been a lead in a high rated production yet (YZ likes to inflate his ratings so it's hard to count The Double and Perfect Match) but that will change next year. and with traffic stars and big IPs barely getting 20M views now it'll be a challenge for sure. so I hope his luck/script choices continues to hold.

no problem! they're mostly thanks to fans persistence (despite getting blocked by umbrellas a lot of the time)

lol he just bought a new motorcycle🤣 (he sold the one he used to own while TWD was filming.)

oh sorry, Lament of Autumn is Cheng Lei and Xu Ruohan's drama (only used it to compare because it's what a high budget republican drama looks like.)

iQiyi Korea is promoting it (I've seen reposts of the previous posters from Korean fans on twitter) so it should be available internationally, just uncertain if it'll be with the same schedule as China.

WXY is currently shooting Bao Hu (Violent Tiger) a modern crime/suspense drama set in the 90s/early 00s which also 24 episodes but shooting is scheduled for 110 days. I saw you already found the MDL page haha.

just want to correct your impression that this is not a low budget drama because this was shot in 2022 for around 50 days* and it was delayed for 3 years because investors pulled funding during post production. when WXY was cast, he wasn't yet a rising star and the only strong role in his resume was One and Only (this was before SOT and SOKP aired, and before AASOL and The Double were even shot.) iQiyi's logo is not on the booting ceremony board and they only officially announced the drama this month (it was just rumored to be the platform for years but never confirmed.) fans were not even given the option to organize cloud booking, which should be easy money for iQiyi and free marketing for the production company. just look at how empty the douyin account is, no marketing there means no money.

*in comparison, the currently shooting S budget republican drama Lament of Autumn has a production schedule of 150 days.

they just have this weird obsession with one person "carrying a drama" and don't get me wrong, I like looking at data too but the thing I want most from my faves is just a drama that I can enjoy and rewatch all the time lol.

okay I did a little more reading and in these contracts, the production company is paid per view so there really is no risk for iQiyi at all and that's why they like to drop everything all at once. (apparently, other platforms like Youku are kinder and give revenue shared dramas a more normal schedule.)

no it's still considered a long drama but from what I understand, the platform only buys distribution rights in return for a split in the profit, while all the investment for the drama is shouldered by the production company. for A dramas and above, iQiyi (or whatever platform) is a co-producer so they give it a long broadcast period to maximize profits. while revenue-sharing dramas have no need for that so that's why they usually release it all in one day.

cfandoms are still probably gonna mock it if it doesn't reach 10M yunhe because of WXY's status now but the fact that it was released from the vault is already a success lol.

it actually looks good for something that was shot in 50 days. I was worried they were going to dub over WXY's voice (since they never put dubbing for this in his schedule) but it looks like they're using live sound instead.

it was originally a B-rated revenue-sharing drama, they usually drop all episodes in one day for that (similar to City of Romance) so the surprise here is that they're giving it 4 days.