Editor's note: There are a huge number of movies, TV series and variety shows broadcast every week. How do you choose? You might as well take a look at the recommendations of The Paper.
【Movie】
Cinema box office
As of around 16:00 on February 7, "Nezha: The Devil Child Conquers the Dragon King", "Detective Chinatown 1900" and "Boonie Bears: Reboot" occupied the top three places on this Friday's single-day box office chart.
Ten days after its release, the total box office of "Nezha: The Devil Boy Conquers the Dragon King" has reached 6.4 billion yuan, not only topping the Chinese box office chart, but also on its way to the global box office chart. As of press time, Dengta and Maoyan's forecasts for the film's total box office in mainland China have risen to 9.84 billion yuan and 10.85 billion yuan, respectively.
As the saying goes, "My fate is determined by myself, not by God." How many box office records can this "3-year-old billion-dollar box office hero" break? Let's wait and see.
→ Is “Nezha: The Devil Boy Conquers the Dragon King” the real “God-making”?
→ 【Special topic】New Year's new film
On February 7, the pre-sale of the 25th anniversary director's special edition of "In the Mood for Love" was launched. In the newly exposed footage, Maggie Cheung, wearing a windbreaker in 2000, took a taxi from a convenience store, looking confident, modern, and full of mystery. The film is directed by Wong Kar-wai, starring Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-wai, and will be released on February 14.
【TV drama】
New drama information
Adapted from the novel of the same name, the costume drama "Si Jin" produced by Xixi Pictures was completed in September last year. Recently, the drama officially announced its full cast for the first time, with Jing Tian and Zhang Wanyi as the leading actors, and will be exclusively broadcast on Tencent Video.
Poster of "Like Brocade"
The suspense web drama "The Shadow of the Past", which has been in backlog for more than three years, was launched on February 4 and was exclusively broadcast on iQiyi. It starred Wang Anyu, Kuang Muye, Angelababy, Zhang Yujian, Yu Xiaotong, Cheng Xiao and Sheng Yinghao.
Palm
The costume suspense drama starring Liu Shishi and Dou Xiao is adapted from Zhou Azi's novel "Xin Shang". The story is set during the reign of Emperor Sisheng of the Tang Dynasty. It tells the story of the wandering doctor Ye Ping'an (played by Liu Shishi) who went to the capital of Luoyang because of a secret old case. She was labeled as a witch doctor because of several bizarre cases. She is good at using tricks and bewitching people, and everyone avoids her. Yuan Shaocheng (played by Dou Xiao), the prime minister of Dali Temple, was regarded as a "stinky rat" because he was born in a pariah area. Although he has a lot of talents, he cannot be respected. He is eager for power, insidious and cruel, and always seizes the opportunity to climb to a high position. The two started a game in the complex power struggle, performing a thrilling journey of revenge.
Poster of Palm
There is a tree in Sendai
Adapted from the novel of the same name by Jinjiang Literature City writer Kuang Shang Jia Kuang, the drama is produced by iQiyi, directed by Yin Tao, and starring Deng Wei and Xiang Hanzhi.
The story tells about the immortal genius Su Yishui (played by Deng Wei) whose destiny was changed by his master Mu Qingge (played by Xiang Hanzhi) 18 years ago, and Mu Qingge died with a stigma. 18 years later, Mu Qingge reincarnated as Xue Ranran, and Su Yishui accepted her as his disciple, vowing to protect her for the rest of her life. The two exchanged their identities as master and apprentice, unfolding a series of hilarious stories.
Poster of "There is a Tree in Sendai"
As Deng Wei's first drama starring the male lead after the hit drama "Longing", "There is a Tree in Xiantai" has attracted many fans. There are heated discussions about the drama on social media, and many fans are looking forward to it.
The series premiered today, and viewers praised the series' innovation and depth, especially in terms of visual effects and actors' performances. The series has a fast pace, similar to a short drama, but the overall story is relatively old-fashioned in the Xianxia genre, and the actors' performances are also average.
Six Sisters
Directed by Huang Xiaojuan, starring Mei Ting, Lu Yi, Wu Junmei, Xi Meijuan, Liu Jun, Wu Qian, Li Chen, Gao Lu, Ying Er, Cao Feiran, Li Jiaqi, Dong Jie, Shen Yue, Lin Yongjian, Sun Ning, Song Yiren, Gao Zhiting and others, the story revolves around six sisters with different personalities. In the face of various challenges in life, the sisters still stick to the bond of family affection and perform touching life dramas.
Since its broadcast, the drama has received enthusiastic attention from the audience, especially in the popularity charts of multiple platforms such as Dengta, Maoyan and Yunhe, where it has maintained a high ranking. The popularity index on the Dengta platform has remained stable in the top five, with a peak popularity of over 2.8 million, ranking TOP3 in the drama popularity chart for seven consecutive days; in addition, the comprehensive data of the drama performed outstandingly in the Yunhe chart, ranking first in the period drama category for three consecutive weeks.
Six Sisters, a prime-time TV drama of CVB, reached a viewership of 4.484%, becoming the highest in CVB single-day history. Kuyun's real-time viewership reached a new high on February 6, with a peak of 4.207%, becoming the first real-time viewership of Kuyun 2025 to break 4, successfully breaking Kuyun's fastest record of breaking 4 in real-time viewership in the past three years, and breaking the historical record of real-time viewership & average viewership of a single episode in the past three years. At the same time, the drama is also the fastest period drama to break 27,000 in popularity on Tencent Video, becoming a "dark horse in word-of-mouth" among the dramas of the same period.
The series reflects the epitome of the times through the life trajectories of six sisters, showing the difficulties and breakthroughs of women in traditional families, and attracting audiences of all ages with real and delicate emotional resonance. Its popularity and reputation have confirmed the lasting vitality of high-quality realistic themes, and it may become one of the most watched family dramas in early 2025.
White Olive Tree
The drama is adapted from Jiu Yuexi's novel of the same name, starring Chen Zheyuan and Liang Jie. It tells the story of female reporter Song Ran (Liang Jie) and Chinese blasting engineer Li Zan (Chen Zheyuan) meeting, knowing each other, and falling in love in the turbulent East Country. The two supported each other in the test of life and death and planted the white olive tree seeds that symbolize peace together.
The drama has impressive data performance. Considering its contemporary idol theme, it ranks among the top five on Dengta and Yunhe, and its popularity on iQiyi exceeds 8,000.
Stills from The White Olive Tree
The audience's evaluation of "White Olive Tree" is mixed. On the one hand, the series has won the love of some viewers for its delicate character portrayal and sincere emotional expression, especially the theme of love and peace in the play, as well as the focus on social issues such as depression, cyber violence, and post-war PTSD, which have received a lot of positive feedback. On the other hand, there are also criticisms that the plot development is relatively slow, the romantic elements are piled up too much, which weakens the depth of the original serious theme, and the filter is too "white" and affects the viewing experience. But from the actual broadcast point of view, the overall performance of the show is good, especially in recent years, there have been few hot dramas in the current idol track. The cast of Chen Zheyuan and Liang Jie is very attractive. Both of them have excellent resumes in the current idol track in the past. The basic base of young female audiences is stable, and they are considered to have "strong CP feeling" and "high degree of character restoration".
Five Blessings
The ancient costume love comedy starring Lu Yuxiao and Wang Xingyue tells the story of the wealthy lady Li from Luoyang who led her four daughters to move from Luoyang to Bianjing during the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Northern Song Dynasty to find ideal partners for them, and experienced a series of ridiculous stories in the process. The play not only involves family emotional entanglements, but also commercial competition and a complex network of relationships between characters, which together weave a vivid social picture. The series spans the Spring Festival period and currently ranks first in the popularity values of the Lighthouse, Yunhe and other lists, and also ranks among the top in other lists, with a stable popularity at the top level.
Stills from "Five Blessings"
The show mainly features light comedy, daily life, and group portraits. The light comedy style and trivial family life cater to the festive atmosphere and have attracted a group of audiences in the sinking market. In addition, the actors are relatively young, and there are many fashionable plots to attract viewers, which also meets the needs of the winter vacation. According to audience feedback, the different love modes in the show meet different emotional needs, especially after adding the characters of yandere, paranoia, and happy enemies, the plot is more vivid and ups and downs.
However, this drama is also controversial. The ancient concepts of marriage and love in the drama conflict with modern ideas. However, due to the shortcomings of the script and excessive publicity strategies in the early stage, it also led to disappointment of some viewers. There are also many criticisms pointing out that the plot has problems such as messy narrative, loose logic and fragmented character settings.
Other recommendations:
Short drama fans | "Too much wealth": The sickly prince meets the salty princess
【Variety Show】
On February 7 at 20:20, the 12th season of "The Brain" resumed. The last duel, Liaoning team VS Hubei team started a passionate battle. Each group of players will fill in their own Sudoku blocks and restore the disrupted 9×9 Sudoku boards one by one through collaboration.
This Wednesday, the first episode of "The Great Detective: Pick Up Time" was aired in anticipation of all the "fake fans" on the Internet. The bizarre death of the Internet celebrity Zhen forced the filming to be interrupted. At the critical moment, Holmes (played by He Jiong) appeared on the scene to reveal the stories behind the entertainment industry. The people involved in the filming have an inextricable connection with "The Story of Rose", and they seem to hide many unknown secrets and entanglements between each other.
The first case of this season, "I'm shooting a short play in Hollywood" poster
On February 4, "Girls' Reasoning Club 2" officially came to an end. Qi Wei, Zhang Yuqi, Li Yitong, Li Xueqin, Tian Xiwei, and Zhang Yifan, six members of the Good Reasoning Club, successfully completed the "undercover" mission of the TWO Hotel with their intelligence and courage to fight against the "dark forces". At the closing party, everyone happily reviewed the memorable highlights. Tian Xiwei said: "The story of the girls' reasoning club is half about us and half about them." The girls' reasoning club was moved by the characters and also expressed their most sincere gratitude to all the NPCs.
The third season of Zhejiang Satellite TV's "17th Music Warehouse" will be broadcast on Zhejiang Satellite TV every Saturday at 20:20 starting from February 8, and will be available on the Z TV client at 20:50. In the new season, old friends of the "warehouse" Hu Xia, Bai Jugang, and Xilinnayi Gao happily return, and new partner Deng Jiaxin joins surprisingly. The four warehouse managers will travel together on a new music journey.
Poster of "Music Warehouse No. 17"
On February 7, at 21:30 on Zhejiang Satellite TV and 22:00 on ZTV, the pilot episode of the new life observation reality show "Our Dad" produced by Zhejiang Satellite TV will be launched. Five members of the "neighboring parents group" from different fields and with different personalities, Fu Shouer, Miao Miao, Wu Zun, Xu Xin, and Yang Zi, gathered in Hangzhou to start a co-creation meeting, and a unique "advanced ice-breaking game" began.
The original intention of creating the program started with parenting, but it is not limited to parenting. "Our Dad" will also focus on the changes in family relationships brought about by children from a unique perspective, observe how fathers in different families raise their children, and focus on the interaction and growth between fathers and children.
More recommendations:
After seven years, what’s new in the fourth season of “A Bite of China”?
【Party】
The "2025 Hunan Satellite TV and Mango TV Lantern Festival Gala" will be broadcast live simultaneously on Hunan Satellite TV and Mango TV at 19:30 on February 12 (the fifteenth day of the first lunar month), with the theme of "Joyful New Year, Shining Brilliance", and will kick off the "Super Happy New Product Launch Conference".
This year's Lantern Festival Gala has invited classic and cutting-edge language performance guests including Xiao Shenyang, Shen Chunyang and his wife, Xu Haolun, and Tan Xiangwen, as well as magician Deng Nanren, who left a stunning performance on the Spring Festival Gala. The Incredible Magic Troupe (Deng Runshi, Liu Zihe, Luo Yanhui) will also bring new magic performances.
There were also many popular guests including Bao Yuqing, Bao Yuyan, Bi Wenjun, Cao Enqi, Chen Lijun, Dasuo, Da Zhangwei, TOP Landing Boys, Du Xiaomeng, Fanghua Strings, Huang Zihongfan, Li Jinye, Lin Mo, Shao Mingming, Sheng Yu, Tang Jiuzhou, univu5 girl group, Wei Xun, Wei Zheming, Wu Qianyu, Wu Yue, Yan Qing, Yang Di, Yang Yuesha, Yao Yao, Yuan Shuxiong, Zhang Chi, Zhang Weiwei, Zhang Yuxi, Zhou Yutong, Zhuang Yuguang, etc. Zhou Shen, an old friend of Hunan Satellite TV's Lantern Festival Gala, met with the audience on the 15th day of the first lunar month as always and brought the first full performance of his new song.
The "2025 Jiangsu Satellite TV AI Lychee Lantern Festival Gala" will meet with hundreds of millions of viewers at 20:30 on February 12 (the 15th day of the first lunar month) to celebrate the reunion and joy of the Lantern Festival. This year's Lantern Festival Gala will further increase the traditional cultural elements and specially create a theme section of "Our Festival". Jiangsu Radio and Television General Station hosts Wang Xiaoya, Guo Xiaomin, and Wang Jue will "flash" in Nantong, Wuxi, Nanjing and other places to experience various traditional folk customs of the Lantern Festival with the audience, understand the historical origins and cultural connotations of the Lantern Festival, and show the grand scene of the Lantern Festival in China. In addition to the special folk programs full of New Year customs, New Year flavor, and New Year fun, this year's Lantern Festival Gala also invited popular singers such as Sun Nan, Da Zhangwei, Ju Jingyi, Huang Zihongfan, Xilinnayi Gao, Liu Duanduan, Chen Zhuoxuan, and many classic singers who are deeply loved by the audience. They will use atmospheric singing and dancing performances to convey blessings and bring endless laughter and surprises.
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