Long-Delayed Film ‘Better Days’ Gets Surprise Release in China

The teen drama is one of a handful of films to have their mainland releases canceled or postponed this year.

A promotional poster for “Better Days.” From the film’s official Weibo account

The highly anticipated teen drama “Better Days” is set to hit theaters on the Chinese mainland Friday after having its previously planned premiere canceled in June.

With a single line of text, the movie’s official account on microblogging platform Weibo announced the new release date Tuesday and thanked the public for waiting. That the announcement came just three days before the new premiere is unusual in China’s film market, as studios and distributors often begin presales weeks ahead of time.

The director of “Better Days” — Hong Kong’s Tsang Kwok-cheung, also known as Derek Tsang — has yet to comment publicly on the release. Tsang is best-known on the Chinese mainland for his award-winning 2016 film “Soul Mate,” which earned 167 million yuan (then $25 million) at the domestic box office.

Soul Mate, directed by Derek Tsang

“Better Days” — an adaptation of the popular online novel, “In His Youth, In Her Beauty” — shows the relationship between top student Chen Nian and student athlete Bei Ye and how a bullying incident shapes their fates. It features 27-year-old “Soul Mate” star Zhou Dongyu and 18-year-old singer Yi Yangqianxi — also known as Jackson Yee, of the popular boy band TFBoys — as Chen and Bei, respectively. Continue to read the full article here.

 

– This article originally appeared on Sixth Tone.