Renowned mainland Chinese singer Li Yugang invested 30 million yuan in his directorial debut film “Clouds in the Sky.” As of 6 p.m. on October 17th, the film’s presale box office was only 616,000 yuan, with only a 1.6% share of the first day’s presale screenings. At the current pace, it is estimated that the film’s total box office will not exceed 5 million yuan, making it unlikely to break even.
“Clouds in the Sky” marks Li Yugang’s first foray into directing a film. The film’s synopsis describes the story of a girl named Qiushi (played by Lv Xingchen) from a Jiangnan town who faces dual setbacks in her family and career, with her childhood sweetheart Qingyun (played by Liang Yongqi) and senior brother Yinchan (played by Li Yugang) each guarding her in their own way.
Debuting through the talent show “Star Boulevard,” Li Yugang shared at the recent film premiere, “Singing is my main profession, and I am still a newcomer in the film industry. After more than two years of preparation and filming, ‘Clouds in the Sky’ is finally going to meet the audience. I am feeling very nervous at this moment.”
“During my childhood, in the village cinema, whenever ‘Spring in a Small Town’ was screened, I was the only small audience sitting on a stool watching; but when ‘Shaolin Temple’ was shown, the audience was packed. Since then, I have had a dream of making movies. For this reason, in 2018, I entered a directing refresher course at the Beijing Film Academy, spending a year learning film language and audiovisual techniques.” Li Yugang, born in a rural area in Northeast China, stated that making his own film has been a long-standing wish.
Following the film’s premiere, the self-media account “Reliable Film Critic” commented, “‘Clouds in the Sky’ claims to promote Chinese culture, incorporating elements of Wu Opera, but the plot is simply a mundane love triangle, with the female lead entangled between her fiancé and childhood friend and senior brother.” It further criticized, “The 46-year-old Li Yugang plays the smitten senior brother of the female lead. Interestingly, Lv Xingchen, who plays the female lead, is a post-90s, making the age difference with Li Yugang quite large.”
The article points out that in recent years, crossing over to direct films is no longer a novelty. Jia Ling’s self-directed and acted works like “Hi, Mom!” and “Hotpot Hero” have inspired a large number of stars in the entertainment industry, showing that skits can also be turned into films, and weight loss can be a film’s selling point, making films less lofty.
According to mainland media reports, the production cost of “Clouds in the Sky” exceeded 30 million yuan, and the production team initially believed that recouping the investment with Li Yugang’s influence would not be difficult, considering that Li Yugang has over 20 million fans on several social platforms alone.
However, the reality is that the film audience and music fans do not overlap. As of 6 p.m. on October 17th, the film’s presale box office was only 616,000 yuan, with a mere 1.6% share of the first day’s presale screenings. It is clear that due to fans’ reluctance to support it, theaters are not optimistic about the film’s box office prospects.
Given that the period between the “National Day” and the New Year in mainland China is already a slow season for films, coupled with this year’s sluggish Chinese film market, mainland media estimate that at the current pace, “Clouds in the Sky” may gross at most 5 million yuan, with little hope for breaking even.