#intercross

[rainbowsky]

Yibo - Mermaid/Intercross project update and production re-approval

There was a lot of buzz online today about the re-submission and re-approval of Mermaid/Intercross. Let's take a look.

Documents and changes

Filings that were previously made for production approval have been re-submitted with changes, which have been approved. Several features of the production details have changed:

Film Category

Previous filing - Feature film.

New filing - Co-production feature film (this would mean a film produced in partnership with another company).

Title

Mermaid (both filings)

Registering company

Previous filing - Hainan Xiyue Film Co., Ltd.

New filing - Hainan Xiyue Film Co. Ltd., Tianjin Maoyan Weiying Culture Media Co. Ltd., Huanhuan Xixi (Tianjin) Cultural Investment Co. Ltd. (wholly foreign-owned enterprise)

Screenwriter

Cheng Er (both filings)

Registration result

Approved for filming (both filings)

Registration location

Previous filing - Hainan Province

New filing - Directly registered

Synopsis

Previous filing - In the hinterland of the Dayao Mountains, a young man living in near-total isolation from the outside world encounters, for the first time, the alluring yet turbulent South from afar. Along the distant banks of the Red River in Vietnam, there is the bittersweet life of a middle-aged man and his heartfelt performance as a merman, as well as a female university student studying art in Aomori, Japan. Different worlds, intertwined lives.

New filing - During the long winter days in Northeast China, a young man is confronted with an accident and the layers of bewilderment that follow. Along the banks of Vietnam's Red River, a middle-aged man leads a secret life beneath a comical exterior. In Hong Kong, a family struggles through hardship and loneliness. Their lives seem entirely unrelated, yet are intimately connected. Different worlds, intertwined lives.

What does it mean?

The primary changes:

The production team has expanded - Most notably to include Maoyan, which is a very large film company that handles online ticketing, marketing, financing and film production. This means the film has strong financial and logistical backing, and Maoyan will likely be involved with marketing and distribution.

The synopsis has changed - The Japanese storyline about a young woman was replaced with a storyline about a family in Hong Kong.

The location filing is likely related to which entity the documents were filed through - previously filed with a local provincial entity, now directly with the national film authority.

The project wrapped a couple of years ago, and people have been eagerly awaiting any news of its release. There have been plenty of rumors, and it has appeared among 'upcoming releases' in film/investor confrences, but nothing concrete has materialized yet.

This new filing represents some fairly significant progress. The project now has major financial backing from a company that is connected to marketing and distribution, the story has been honed and it's been filed directly with the national authority.

Of course this is not evidence of any imminent release, but it definitely shows the project is very much alive and in progress, and I think we can feel more confident than ever that it will see the light of day.

Fingers crossed it happens soon! I'm more excited about this project than just about anything else from DD (with the exception of his rumored album). I am on the edge of my seat waiting to see this!

[accio-victuuri]

and i’m back! i’m gonna be working in a few hours but it’s okay cause i had fun with my vacation ☺️

and oh, so nice to come back to different hot search tags related to mermaid. there was some update on it’s profile, saying that other actresses included in the film are tang wei ( which was already heavily rumored before ) and huang duoduo ( huang lei’s daughter ) to play the mermaid (?). this project has been very mysterious, and is obviously one of the most anticipated movie release in the mainland for 2025. plus it’s wyb and cheng er’s second collaboration. with the first one being so successful, it’s no surprise that everyone is excited/curious.

more info will allegedly be known @ the National Cinema Promotion Conference this month. 🫶🏼

[yibo-best]

Cr: nili火火

[rob-berry]

Not a spoiler

A man found unconscious on a beach, suffering from amnesia. A group of scientists examine him and discover that he has superhuman abilities he can hear marine life, breathe underwater, and swim like a 🐬.Yed he can not survive for long out of the water and water 8s the source of his super human strengts .His eyes are highly sensitive to light, and his hands and feet are webbed

A female scientist falls in love with him, but in the end, they can not be together because he belongs to the ocean. I guess in this movie, Yibo will mostly be seen walking around barefoot, dressed in shorts, aboard a submarine, or a ship-based lab. And, of course, he will be fighting some bad people

[mossplush]

some background practice (with and without characters)

[rainbowsky]

Hi rbs, hope you’re having a nice holiday season 🎄Do you know if there’s any update on Yibo’s next movie, the one directed by Cheng’er? Also, sorry if this question has already come up, but in the future, what kind of roles or projects would you really like to see him take on? And what about gg? :)

Hi Mimihina! I have had a nice holiday season, thanks! I hope have been too. ☺️

There is no update on Mermaid/Intercross, and there hasn't been since the announcement that filming was complete. That announcement came in July of last year.

That shouldn't be surprising at all. That project has been incredibly secretive, and has had absolutely no leaks whatsoever, which is exceptionally rare. Therefore the only things we're likely to hear are official announcements, or information that is publicly available or that the production has no control over (such as when it obtains a license to air).

When it will be ready for viewing is anyone's guess. The best comparison we have is Hidden Blade, which completed filming in the end of 2021 and was released in January of 2023. Basically just over a year later. It's already been longer than that since Mermaid/Intercross wrapped, so... not that useful.

It did appear on lists of 'most anticipated films of 2025', but we're in the last week of 2025 and there's still no movement on it. We'll just have to be patient and hope it comes out soon. I suspect we'll get it sometime next year, but I don't have any evidence beyond my own expectations.

Re: GG and DD and what types of projects I'd like to see them in - I have been asked similar questions in the past. For example, I was asked about what I'd like to see them appear together in, and who I'd like to see them work with, which has led to some of the info your question is asking, but it's been a while.

For GG, I want to see him play a villain because he's always wanted that, and it would be great to see that dream come true for him.

However, it's a bit unlikely we'd get the kind of antihero/villain role that would be fully satisfying due to Chinese censorship regulations. Criminals/villains must always be depicted as undesirable characters who 'lose' in the end, so those kinds of stories (which tend to be ubiquitous in the West) don't really get told there.

Legend of Zanghai was a bit like that, in that it was a revenge role where he was involved in a lot of scheming and questionable activity, but he was also a very righteous person trying to correct past wrongs and set things on a righteous path. He wasn't a mob figure or a con artist or mastermind pulling criminal heists, which are the kinds of roles I think he'd be great in and I'd love to see.

If you look at the smirk he gives at the end of this GQ video, you can see his potential for a role like that.

I would also like to see him in an unscripted way, where we get more up close and personal with him as he takes on challenges. Sort of like his own version of Exploring the Unknown. Whatever that would be for him. What kinds of challenges interest him? What kinds of documentary projects would he be interested in doing, where we might get a bigger glimpse of the real GG?

The closest we've had of that from him (aside from XFIRE and Our Song, of course) is the 'making of' video he did for WM. But yeah, I'd love to see more of that kind of thing from him.

For DD, we've been exceptionally fortunate. The sorts of things I most love seeing him in, we've had so much of it (not that I don't want more!). For years we had DDU, we had Street Dance of China, we had the pangolin documentary, we've had Exploring the Unknown, we have his racing. These are the kinds of things I most enjoy. Just seeing DD being DD.

I am also DYING, like, completely losing my MIND waiting for Mermaid. I really can't wait to see it.

I think more than anything I would love to see more dance from him, but I respect that's not where he's at right now.

In terms of new acting roles, I would most love to see him play a modern role that has a lot of emotional complexity. I don't have much of a preference of where that goes. But in a perfect world, I wish we could see him play an emotionally complex, multi-dimensional queer character, where queerness isn't the central focus of the project, and where he doesn't meet a 'kill your gays' tragic end.

This because, I think he'd really come alive in a role like that.

Regardless of what they end up doing, I look forward to seeing all of their work. I hope you all do too! You can find some of those projects and links/info for viewing here.

[yibo-best]

Wang Yibo's "The Mermaid" Shortlisted for the Most Anticipated Film of the Year Award. On May 21, the honorary recommendation event "Weibo Movie Night 2025" officially kicked off. The activity of recommending the most anticipated films of the year among Weibo users is in full swing! The first stage, "The Dispatch of Light and Shadow", will be held from May 21 to 26, and the next stage will include 60% of the top recommended films. Wang Yibo's "The Mermaid" has been shortlisted for the Most Anticipated Film of the Year Award and has received 130,000 recommendations so far. It is reported that "The Mermaid" is positioned as a key project in the field of auteur cinema. The story spans three locations: Daxinganling (China), Hanoi (Vietnam), and Aomori (Japan), and follows the intertwined lives of different characters, including a young man facing temptation, a middle-aged actor, and a coming-of-age story of a college student majoring in fine arts.

Cr: 大河报

[rainbowsky]

#The Mermaid Movie has wrapped##Wang Yibo Mermaid has wrapped# On the 12th, Wu Na*, the producer of the film Mermaid, posted a message revealing that the film had wrapped: "The film Mermaid, directed by Cheng Er and starring Wang Yibo, has wrapped. I am grateful for the dedication and hard work of all the creators and staff. I would like to thank all the participants and friends who have been following us for their love. Mermaid is about to embark on a new journey. Please wait for good news and pray for good times." ​​​

Source: Sina Entertainment.

*Wu Na is Cheng Er's wife, and was also a producer for Hidden Blade.