By Micol Stano
February 26, 2024
The eagerly awaited Chinese New Year film YOLO (You Only Live Once) directed by and stars Jia Ling, a Mainland Chinese comedy actress and director, has become a major topic of discussion among moviegoers and has set mainland China on ablaze with its remarkable popularity.
According to data from the China Movie Database, the movie’s box office exceeded 3.2 billion yuan within 15 days of release, becoming the box office champion during the Lunar New Year break.
For a worldwide release, Sony Pictures acquired the worldwide distribution rights for YOLO, which is not only is it a recognition of Jia’s directorial skills, but also the quality of her work—demonstrating the film’s broad appeal and ability to attract audiences worldwide.
The film adapted from the Japanese movie “100 Yen Love”, is about how a kind-hearted person realises her actual self and learns to accept herself. For years, Le Ying, the main protagonist, has lived a solitary existence with no purpose or direction. Through a series of unforeseen twists of fate, Le Ying resolves to embrace a new way of life, and she finally decides to fight her life through boxing.
In the run-up to the highly anticipated film’s release, director Jia made news across major social media platforms for her astounding weight loss of over 100 pounds.
As a well-known comedian in mainland China, director Jia has long had a unique place in people’s hearts thanks to her lovable persona, which includes a plump figure, a beaming smile with two dimples, and a talent for producing gripping sketch comedy performances. Her unwavering dedication to altering her appearance for the film has piqued the public’s interest and heightened the excitement and anticipation around its premiere.
Movie YOLO Official Music Video by Jia Ling from Youtube
This movie was a huge hit on social media because of Jia’s weight loss success, so during the New Year break, I went to the cinema to watch it.”– Wang Haiqian, a white-collar worker in Shenzhen, after watching YOLO
During the interview, she expressed that she had high expectations for the movie, but after watching it it wasn’t as good as she thought it would be. “The best part of the movie may be in the pre-marketing of Jia’s weight loss,” Wang added disappointedly.
YOLO is now being readied for global release, with a Hong Kong premiere expected. Will Hong Kong people have the same passion for this movie as mainlanders?
Every year, films released over the Chinese New Year season garner a lot of attention from the audience, including audiences from Hong Kong. During such occasions, many Hong Kong residents choose to travel to Shenzhen to attend a film showing, such as Mi Zihan, a student from the University of Hong Kong.
Mi watched YOLO with his family in Shenzhen during the New Year holidays, and he thought that the film was amazing, and the pacing was done quite well.
“The most important point is that the perseverance of the protagonist in the movie who decides to do one thing well struck me,” Mi added, also expressing his determination to work out harder this year after watching the movie.
Hong Kong citizens also expressed their anticipation for the movie’s release in Hong Kong. Lam Tsz Ching, a local resident in Hong Kong said,
I’ve seen a lot of news about this movie on social media and I’m really interested in it, I’m willing to go see it if it’s released in Hong Kong.”
I actually first heard about this movie from my family, all talking about the hard work Jia Ling put in to make this movie, and I thought they would want to watch it for themselves!”
– Elizabeth Luk, a Hong Kong resident
Reported by Micol Stano
Edited by Irene Meng and Sam Sadie