Upcoming iQIYI Dramas Are Kinda Star-Studded

Several upcoming iQIYI dramas have officially announced their casts and even kicked off filming this week. Xiao Zhan and Dilraba Dilmurat lead their respective projects, while the rumored duo of Cheng Yi and Lin Gengxin have been confirmed to star together in a Ming Dynasty drama. Liu Haoran, who’s made a name for himself as a film actor, returns to dramaland opposite Li Landi. All in all, it’s shaping up to be an exciting list to watch for.

Xiao Cheng Liang Fang (小城良方)

With director Zhang Xiaobo at the helm and a script over a year in the making, this medical drama features Xiao Zhan as Liu Zhengliang, a top doctor who, after a medical accident, is exiled back to his small northeastern hometown. He assembles a wildly unqualified team at a rural hospital, including a fortune-telling nurse and a funeral director-turned-anesthetist. It is adapted from the novel Fei Dao by Liu Sanshu.

It would certainly be nice to see Xiao Zhan playing a doctor again after The Oath of Love. He’ll also be acting opposite veterans like Ni Dahong and reuniting with Zhang Guoqiang after Legend of Zang Hai. Jiang Yan who plays a funeral director and Xiao Zhan’s love interest might not be as familiar to audiences but she recently brought home a Magnolia Award.

Take a Nap (海岛舒服日志)

With a theme that reads, “the answer is in the past, and in the future,” Take a Nap follows two youths: Lu Shi (Liu Haoran), a biologist-turned-fisherman, and Su Xiao (Li Landi), a lost illustrator who mysteriously slip through time to a seaside village in 1998.

What’s notable is the pairing of Liu Haoran and Li Landi, beloved for their leading roles in With You and My Huckleberry Friends, both of which are part of the “Zhenhua Universe,” hence making them “aunt” and “uncle.” However, fans worry the story might not be strong enough due to the writer lacking notable credits.

Liang Jing Shi Wu Ri (两京十五日)

With so many of Ma Boyong’s novels already adapted into dramas, yet another one joins the list. Cheng Yi and Lin Gengxin are confirmed as the leads of a Ming Dynasty drama, which frames its story along the Grand Canal, a seldom-used setting for Chinese period dramas.

Liang Jing Shi Wu Ri chronicles the dramatic 15-day journey of Crown Prince Zhu Zhanji (Cheng Yi), who must race from Nanjing to Beijing after a political explosion and the Emperor’s sudden illness. The goal? Claim the throne before the ambitious Prince Han can seize power.

Dual male lead roles have a proven track record in China. Cheng Yi takes top billing though Lin Gengxin who’s second billed is actually doubling as a co-producer of the drama. However, some are concerned with the shift in story since the novel is apparently, mainly focused on Lin Gengxin’s character constable, yet the adaptation pivots toward the Crown Prince’s arc.

Sui Ran Bu Neng Tong Shi Yong You Yi Qie (虽然不能同时拥有一切)

Dilraba Dilmurat has been announced as the female lead of a 6-episode Chinese minidrama said to be inspired by Japanese novel The Dilemmas of Working Women by Fumio Yamamoto.

The actress will play two versions of a woman: Wei Lan A, a successful urban writer spiraling into creative emptiness, and Wei Lan B, a battered housewife from a coastal town trapped in domestic abuse. Their fates collide when a typhoon forces an emergency landing.

Some have doubts about the creative team, but everyone’s been eager to know who will be her leading men. And it’s now confirmed to be Taiwanese actor Edward Chen as the love interest for Wei Lan A, Yan Yikuan as Wei Lan B’s abusive husband, Hong Kong actress Cecilia Yip as a mysterious mentor and Chang Huasen as a second-generation rich.