Stars attended the premiere Wednesday of "Tiny Times 4," the expected final installment of one of China's most successful movie franchises, whose depiction of the lives and loves of four young women has garnered many fans among the young cinema-going audience.
The "Tiny Times" films follow the women from different backgrounds in Shanghai as they leave college and enter the real world, and has been criticized in China as promoting materialism for its lavish depiction of luxury items and lifestyles. Fans are attracted by the relationships between the four friends and their loves, as well as the teenage-like drama.
Director Guo Jingming, actresses Yang Mi, Amber Kuo, Xie Yilin and Hayden Kuo attended the red-carpet event in Beijing for "Tiny Times 4: Soul's End," along with actor Chen Xuedong. Actress Fan Bingbing, better known outside China, also showed up in support.
"The last three installments made 1.3 billion yuan ($217 million). I think this one should at least make 1.3 billion yuan," said Fan, whose next film will be directed by Guo.
"Soul's End" is expected to be the last of four installments of the "Tiny Times" series, which is based on a trilogy of books written by Guo himself, an author and entrepreneur.
He said Wednesday they initially didn't think they could achieve the feat of making four movies, and that his career as a film director had just begun.
"However, there will be no other film like Tiny Times, in which I have invested so much emotion," he said. "Some people say movies tell fictional stories, but they actually become part of my real life."
The film will be released in China on Friday.
