Re-filming of “Legend of Ba Qing”; Fan Bingbing and Gavin Gao to Be Replaced
Mainland drama Legend of Ba Qing <巴清傳> was cursed with bad luck and unable to secure a broadcast date due to Fan Bingbing (范冰冰) and Gavin Gao‘s (高雲翔) scandals last year. Instead of scrapping the entire production and losing the 567 million yuan spent to make the drama, investors want to cast new artistes to replace Bingbing and Gao’s roles and re-film part of the drama.
Although Legend of Ba Qing was a costly production, the series’ broadcast was pushed back multiple times due to issues stemming from the leading cast. In March 2018, Gavin was arrested for sexual assault and went through a lengthy trial in Sydney, Australia.
Weeks after Gavin’s scandal broke, investors immediately asked Gavin’s scenes in Legend of Ba Qing to be deleted, and Li Chen (李晨) was allegedly going to replace him.
However, in June 2018, Fan Bingbing was exposed of tax fraud and investigated by authorities. Eventually found guilty, Bingbing was fined 800 million RMB in back taxes and fees. After her scandal, Bingbing sold her shares in her company, Zhejiang Talent Television & Film Co, the same company that produced Legend of Ba Qing.
With Bingbing and Gavin’s scandalous images, investors behind the drama want to re-film the series by injecting an additional 30 million RMB and cast new leads. They hope the drama can still air and be able to recoup some of their investments.
Without Fan Bingbing holding up the series, Legend of Ba Qing will most likely end up being a second-rated series and viewership ratings will most definitely take a hit.
Source: On.cc
This article is written by Su for JayneStars.com.
lol you have to wonder if the production isn’t cursed. one main character disgraced is bad enough, but when both main characters are embroiled in scandals that big…
well, maybe it’s best for the series to have different leads. i’m not fond of either of them.
I feel like they should just scrap the whole thing
I was really looking forward to watch this drama… But changing the lead may be a solution. I cannot even watch Gavin anywhere anymore without wanting to throw up.