A Chinese Drama Is Digitally Erasing Its Scandal-Plagued Actors

The producers of ‘Win the World’ say they’re replacing Fan Bingbing and Gao Yunxiang with stars who have yet to fall from grace.

“Win the World.” Photo from Douban

Two scandal-struck megastars in the long-delayed costume drama “Win the World” are being digitally scrubbed from the show, according to its producers.

In a statement Tuesday, Talent Television and Film Co. Ltd. said it had enlisted Tmall Technology, a company under e-commerce giant Alibaba, to replace Gao Yunxiang and Fan Bingbing with as-yet-unnamed “top-tier actors” by means of “scene refilming, technological tools, audio re-recording, etc.” The studio also assured potential viewers that the estimated 60 million yuan ($8.4 million) in changes, slated to be completed by the end of this year, would not adversely affect the quality or integrity of the show.

“Win the World” — sometimes translated as “Ba Qing Biography” or “The Legend of Ba Qing” — tells the story of a woman whose healing prowess allows her to rise from humble origins to the emperor’s court during the Qin dynasty. The show began filming in 2017 and was supposed to debut on two domestic TV networks the following year, but its release was delayed after Gao was charged with raping a woman at a Sydney hotel in March 2018. Gao — who denies the allegation and is pleading not guilty — remains in Australia awaiting his trial.

Initial plans to digitally replace Gao with Li Chen, a well-known actor who was also Fan’s fiancé, fell through when the couple broke up this summer. Continue to read the full article here.

 

– This article originally appeared on Sixth Tone.