Kevin Cheng's Popularity Dropping in China?

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Reports are saying that Kevin Cheng’s (鄭嘉穎) long-running Ip Man <叶问> television series, produced by Suzhou Funa Films and Television, is not doing too well with mainland Chinese distributors. It has been reported that the 50-episode drama, which had a five-month filming period in late 2012, failed to attract top-tier television stations to purchase its broadcasting rights.

Ip Man first premiered on Malaysia’s Astro on Demand and Hong Kong’s TVB in March 2013. The drama debuted its first mainland broadcast with Shandong’s Qilu channel in late March 2013, which was then followed by broadcasts in Sichuan, Guizhou, and Guangdong. According to the reports, only “third-tier” channels were willing to purchase the broadcast rights of Ip Man despite the producers’ hard effort to promote the series at the film and television festivals two years in a row.

Garnering low-ratings and mixed reactions from the audience, Kevin Cheng’s performance in the series was also highly criticized. Portraying the legendary wingchun practitioner Ip Man, a role also made famous by Donnie Yen (甄子丹) in his Ip Man films, Kevin was condemned for failing to portray the martial arts hero to justice. The criticisms said that Kevin, with no martial arts background, concentrated too much on the technical aspects of his role, sacrificing his acting.

Recurring Injuries

Struggling to perform well in the action-packed role, Kevin incurred many injuries during the shooting of Ip Man, some which have aggravated his old injuries. A source said that Kevin was initially hesitant about taking on the role, but decided to accept it when he was offered 500,000 RMB per episode. “He had over ten stitches on his right eye and had to get the old injury on his right leg treated again,” an insider said. “It was really rough money to earn.”

Failing to attract more viewers, it has been said that Kevin’s popularity in mainland China is also waning, causing him to put a hold on his production company plans. Reports say that Kevin also promised that he would cast good friend Kenneth Ma (馬國明) in an upcoming project, but those plans had to be temporarily put on the backburner for now.

Reports also claimed that due to Kevin’s drop in popularity, many Chinese productions have lost interest in casting him in their new television productions. One of Kevin’s latest Chinese dramas Hua Xu Yin <华胥引>, which was filmed last year, still has not been picked up by a broadcast station.

Kevin is currently resting in Hong Kong and has been consistently visiting Chinese medical clinics to get his injuries treated. It is reported that his next drama will be a TVB production.



Creds: ihktv