This July, iQiyi International presents a slate of all-star blockbusters with mesmerizing casts from China, Japan, and Korea.
Animation hits include the record-breaking Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train and Natsume Yujin-cho the Movie: Ephemeral Bond.
New crime and thriller films that have garnered best-in-class cast and rave reviews, including Voice of Silence (starring Yoo Ah-in and Yoo Jae-myung), Recalled (starring Seo Yea-ji), and Pipeline (starring Seo In-guk). Romantic options include My Love (starring Greg Hsu and Zhang Ruo-nan), Passage of My Youth (starring Zhang Zi-feng and Song Wei-long), and Why Women Cheat (starring Deng Kai and Yao Xiao-xiao). iQiyi International is the best companion for cinephiles at home.
Holding the highest box-office record in Japanese film history so far, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train performed exceptionally well in box office worldwide and received overwhelmingly positive reviews. With over US$474.6 million in revenue around the globe, it was the best-selling film in 2020. The story continues after the television series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. After completing the training at Butterfly Mansion, Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu, and Inosuke board the Mugen Train towards the darkness. On this train, they meet up with Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku to embark on a new mission.
The highly-beloved animation Natsume Yujin-cho has been adapted into a feature film Ephemeral Bond where Takashi reunites with classmate Yuki, and meets with Yorie Tsumura who knows Reiko. Yorie is having a serene life with her only son Mukuo in a village that seems to have mysterious spirits. On the way back from the investigation, a seed attached to Nyanko-sensei drops at the front yard of Fujiwara’s residence. The seed grows and bears fruits overnight. After accidentally eating the fruit that resembles him, Nyanko-sensei suddenly has two doubles. The film relates to life with laughter, bittersweet moments, excitement, and everything in between. With a cat character, it’s even better for all cat lovers.
Voice of Silence stars Yoo Ah-in (#Alive), the youngest award-winning actor in Korea, and Yoo Jae-Myung (Reply 1988, Itaewon Class). Their roles as Tae-in and Chang-bok are vegetable vendors in daytime, and handle corpses for mafia groups at night. After being dragged into a kidnapping incident, their life is getting out of their control. Yoo Ah-in gains 15 kilograms for the character that has no lines at all in the film. Expressing emotions only through body language and eye contacts, he says it is one of the most challenging roles in his career. The film is nominated for both major film awards in Korea (Blue Dragon Film Awards and Baeksang Arts Awards), and Yoo Ah-in is awarded Best Actor on both occasions. Similar to Parasite, the film tackles the grim reality at the bottom of society with dark humor and resonates well with viewers.
Director Yoo Ha spent four years in production for the crime comedy Pipeline, starring Seo In-guk, Lee Soo-hyuk, Tae Hang-ho, and Bae Yoo-ram. The story describes a group of thieves trying to steal crude oil located dozens of meters underground. This unprecedented topic in Korea offers a brand new story to viewers. With multiple prior collaborations, Seo In-guk and Lee Soo-hyuk create fascinating chemistry. “I put a lot of time and effort into Pipeline,” says Seo In-guk, “and I have learned a lot from the director”.
Recalled is a mystery thriller, featuring Seo Yea-ji (It’s Okay to Not Be Okay) and Kim Kang-woo (New Year Blues). After losing her memories, Soo-jin gradually gets her life back on track with support from her husband. In the process, she also receives the capability to foresee the future. While trying to help others with this gift, she also witnesses her husband murders someone. This major secret starts to wreak havoc in her memories. The mystery and twists put viewers on the edge of their seats. After premiering in Korea in April, the film stayed as the top-selling film for weeks, defeating the film by Gong Yoo and Park Bo-gum.
After rising to fame with Taiwanese drama Someday or One Day, Greg Hsu chooses My Love as his film debut. In My Love, he and Zhang Ruo-nan portray an emotional love story across 15 years, from high school to college, and from dating to marriage. Hsu plays a skilled swimmer and jumps into water again and again. In fact, he is intimidated by water due to childhood experiences, but committed to the role “as long as it helps the story”. Director Han Tian also praises him for his contributions. With a lot of attention and discussions, My Love premiered with over CNY$100 million at the box office on the first day, and secured the top-selling title on the first week.
Passage of My Youth (starring Zhang Zi-feng and Song Wei-long) is a deeply heartwarming and equally heartbreaking coming-of-age love story. Adapted from the namesake novel by Lu Yi-ge, the story follows Jiang He (played by Zhang Zi-feng), who studies very hard to catch up with learning genius Jiang Hai (played by Song Wei-long). Eventually, they go to Britain together for college, and encounter many heartwarming and emotional events. It underlines the purity and beauty of love on campus.
Why Women Cheat is a historical romantic fantasy, starring Deng Kai, Yao Xiao-xiao, Xiong Su-yi, and Cao Jie, with Wang Kuirong as guest appearance. The beautiful and handsome cast generated a lot of discussions even before filming. Based on an ancient legend in Southeast Asia, it’s a romance between a kind princess at a coastal country and a “snake god” princess at a neighboring country.
Other films on iQiyi International’s slate include The Rescue (directed by Dante Lam and starred by Eddie Peng), A Writer’s Odyssey (starred by Lei Jiayin and Yang Mi), Detective Chinatown Vol. 2 (starred by Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran), as well as several Wuxia classics remakes (The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Dragon Tamer and King of The New Beggars.)
