The first character posters are out for the C-movie adaption of popular romance novel Three Lives Three Worlds, Ten Miles Peach Blossoms. The C-movie has the English title Once Upon a Time while the C-drama which aired early this year had the English title Eternal Love, which makes it easier to distinguish but I prefer to use the common original Chinese literal translation because it’s always been so beautiful to me. The C-drama version is my favorite drama of 2017 so far, the only time a fantasy (Xian Xia) period drama has worked for me, and with such quiet and confident world and romance building narrative and directed with masterful restraint and visual beauty.
C-drama leads Yang Mi and Mark Chao were incredible in essaying their roles, especially Yang Mi who is back to her early days fine form from back in the Return of the Condor Heroes era in 2006. My love for the drama doesn’t pose any conflict with anticipation and interest in the C-movie starring Crystal Liu and Yang Yang, and judging from the first character stills using a cool blue, rather than peach colored background in the drama. I think the movie leads look fantastic as well so check it out if you’re also interested.
Gu Xuan as Xuan Nu
Little Rice Ball
Yan Yi Kuan as Qing Xang
Luo Jin as Zhe Yan
Li Chun as Su Jin
Yang Yang as Ye Hua/Mo Yan
Cyrstal Liu as Bai Qian/Su Su
For comparison to the C-drama, here’s the official drama poster and character stills with the drama leads Mark Chao, Yang Mi, and many others.
Sigh… I think the movie’s posters pale in comparison to the drama’s. And most of the characters’ outfits are horrendous, especially Zhe Yan’s. The only outfits I like out of those are A-Li, Ji Cang, and maybe Su Jin。
I think the costumes are gorgeous and looks much more ornate and expensive than the drama costumes…Some of the costumes looks cheaply made in the drama as well as some of the sets.
I still love the drama despite its flaws though. This is ine drama where the acting was great by all involved. It really takes me back to my childhood when the TVB Ancient series were awesome and riveting to watch and couldn’t wait tonsee the next episode. I am glad they brought that back in a Mainland drama, of course with a Hong Kong Director which helped a lot.
Yes, the movie outfits look more expensive but they look kind of exaggerated to me, more like those MMORPG characters. The drama outfits are simpler and fit my perception of how chinese gods and goddesses would look like. But I’m still looking forward to the movie though, the last time I’ve watched LYF in a movie is in The Four 2.
I miss TVB ancient dramas too, oh by the way, have you heard about the upcoming China remake of A Step into the Past? The original HK version where Louis Koo time-travelled to the Qin Dynasty? I’m kind of looking forward to this remake as I really loved the original version back then.
I prefer Love 020 drama than movie. Drama has move time to develop the story than movie, movie normally going so fast.
This drama did so well, turn Mark Chao to superstar. I believe the movie will do well to with that star power of yang yang and Crystal Liu.
About to complete Eternal Love and completely in love with the drama. Now I can hop onto the movie to relieve the gorgeous heartbreak again when it releases.
Lots of pretty people in the movie.Look at adorable Riceball/A-li.Aww. Crystal Liu for some reason has always been a miss for me acting wise but I’ll keep a open mind when I watch the movie. Xhan Nu and Zye Yan’s costume are throwing me off a bit though. Such shocking blue and that dead blue bird on his head isn’t helping either….he almost looks comical. Haha.
Also is Bia Qian/Susu holding a peach wine bottle? Lol.Girl after my own heart. I thought it would be her Jade fan or a sword.
the bride of water god will be epic if they made they drama like this kind drama
agree!
They just released the trailer and its looks pretty good so far, its very pretty and angsty LOL The movie has a different vibe to the drama imo.
Why is Crystal’s eyebrows so arched? Is she a heroine or the villain?
She is a Fox? That is why her eyebrows ate arched.
She is a Fox? That is why her eyebrows are arched. I am sure it is to play up her looks to be more of a fox like creature.
Liu YiFei have ups and down in recent year but she never fail to deliver in wuxia setting. From The Story of a Noble family, Chinese paladin to A Chinese Ghost Story, she certainly have a distinct aura that make her good in wuxia genre. A little bit like Lee Jun Ki.
I love old chinese dramas and recent ones were bit off for me. Eternal love was so good i followed raw episodes. i will download all episodes and keep for later reruns.
Oh no will it be like love 020 love the drama , not so with the movie, i hope it will be like sunshine love the drama love tge movie more
I watched “Eternal Love” after reading the original Chinese novel. I have to say that the drama is a perfect adaptation of the novel. Although some details were changed, everything played out how I pictured it. The visuals were stunning, the acting was on point, and the soundtrack was great. I also really appreciate that the writers decided to tell the events in chronological order, which makes it a lot easier to get the timeline straight, rather than using a bunch of flashbacks like the novel.
I’m not sure how the movie is going to be since there is a lot of plot to deal with, but it could work by focusing just on the main characters. I think Yang Yang actually fits the image of Mo Yan / Ye Hua more than Mark Chao since he fits the description of a 小白脸 more (not saying that he is one). But Zhe Yan’s costume… I get that Zhe Yan is a phoenix, but I can’t help but laugh at the poster.
The movie has an epic gaming fantasy feel to it. Such grand sets and scenes.
I am LOVING the movie version of ZhuXian Terrace. The TV version of the terrace was a dumb well.
Best Chinese fantasy drama I’ve ever seen, and I’m more than happy to revisit it all in a movie.
@ ockoala: FYI > you mislabeled Xuan Nu & Rice Ball’s pictures.
Zhe Yan’s outfit looks awful (movie).
Qing Xang looks younger and more handsome (movie).
I think it will be hard for them to beat the drama version. Mark Chao & Yang Mi were so good in it.
I’m soo in love with Eternal Love (aka TMOPB), and super excited with the movie. I watched the trailer like gazillion times..lols. Judging from what I see so far (from posters to wiki), the movie will omit Li Jing and Bai Zhen’s character. And that makes me confused how xiao nu fits in the story without Li Jing? For those who haven’t seen the drama, please watch it. It’s really good. I don’t like watching Chinese fantasy dramas, but this one..is awesome.
Maybe they combined Li Jing and Ching Choung into one character. Bu Bu Jing Xin movie combined all the princes into two..so it is possible.
You mean Ching Choung as in Qing Xang the demon king? That actually can be done like that. Hm…
Ching Choung as in Qing Xang the demon king? That actually can be done like that. There is no need to show the power struggle in the demon tribe. And Xian Nu marry to the demon king. Hmm…..
Yes…instead of a,Li Jing, they might have combined Li Jing and his father into one character.
Kevin Yan is listed as Bai Zhen. Didn’t see anyone for Li Jing though.
http://mydramalist.com/8262-once-upon-a-time/cast
kyahh!!!! The trailer for the movie looks awesome!!!! Exactly how I pictured the scenery!!! Yang Yang and Liu Yi Fei looks so good! I cannot wait to see the movie version!!! July 21st can’t come any sooner!
I think when it comes to visual in ancient drama, Crystal is still undefeated. The one thing I was disappointed in the drama is that Yangmi didn’t look or even have an ounce of aura of a queen, even when the situation calls for it. So I have no problem if Crystal portrayed more of a different type of characters or add more arrogance to her look when she’s back to her true self.
She has the arrogant air of the fox queen though.
But her clothes are so simple.
Personally she is the BQ in the book. And I wait to see if LYF could pull it off all the roles YM did
Loved loved loved the drama!
Watched the trailer and loved it, it has an epic fantasy and heart wrenching feel to it.
Glad to finally hear your thoughts on the drama, koala! I completely agree; it was brilliantly shot and I loved it. Looking forward to the movie though I’m not sure 2 hours can replace the 58 hours I spent enraptured by Mark Chao and Yang Mi but I can’t wait to see anyway. Giggling at Luo Jin’s Zhe Yan get up though; honey, no.
Based on Qing Xang’s youthful appearance and the absence of a casting for Li Jing, I wonder if they’ve merged the father and son characters! Unless they’re just leaving that storyline out. It is only 2 hours after all. The trailer seemed to only have a few major points from the drama which makes me think they’ve changed some parts anyway.
@Steph: I think you are right. Qing Xang probably will be coupling with Xuan Nu, so there won’t be a Li Jing in the movie.
What did I miss? I checked out the drama b/c Koala raved about it but felt so bored after a couple of episodes. Mark Chao seemed good although some viewers were critical of his looks but Yang Mi didn’t bring me anything exciting with her acting. I’ve never been the one for Chinese fantasy or Wuxia with grandiose costumes and funny CGI unless storyline is extremely interesting to me. For this reason, I’ll only hope to have a chance to watch it online just because I like Yang Yang in his prior projects.
Skip to the parts of Ye Hua and SuSu….watch it from then and it will be awesome. I wasn’t interested when Bai Qian was a male at Kun Lun Xue either…but you will be a little lost, since the refer to what happen back then alot.
You are missing out big time. The story doesn’t really start after 10 episodes. It’s now the most watched online drama all time in china
Love love LOVED the drama. Unfair to compare movie versions of the characters with their drama counterparts who has 58 episodes to grow into their characters, but Mark Chao ruined Ye Hua for me in the best way. Thank god Yang Yang is pretty af cause his acting leaves much to desire, then Mark creates these crazy big shoes to fill with his portrayal.
Looking forward to this pretty movie to curb them drama withdrawls
Not against YM or anything, but I honestly was “wowed” when I saw the trailer. LYF looks so pretty, and there is a certain “arrogance” in her looks that makes the character of a goddess seems more fitting. YM looks more “close-girl-next-door” type, even when she tries to act all almighty. I like her a lot, just can’t wait to see a different look/interpretation.
And YY, omg, I’ve liked him since Love 020 and I think the difference in age (him and Crystal) makes me feel like it’s perhaps a bit more tie into the book. After all, she’s like 9 thousand years older than him. heheh
No one ever even argue YM is prettier than LYF when LYF is know for the goddess of chinese historical dramas. The sole reason people bashed the drama in the 1st place because they think YM and Mark’s visual didn’t fit the characters. But their acting and skill made people eating their world. YM’s BQ is prideful innocent and you can tell how distinctively different between her Siyin, Susu and BQ. LYF always has a cold vibe to her so her BQ will be different than YM’s but I can’t wait to see how she pulled of all 3 SY, Susu and BQ like YM didn
I was sad you didn’t make a post about the drama.
It was my favorite chinese drama to date and I still can’t get over it a month later.
The movie will have much bigger advantage with better CG and visual due to the big budget investment and much shorter length. But I still think it’s hard to defeat YM and Mark’s performance… especially YY. His crying in the teaser… was so forced.
Either way it will be a hit, as it already taking advantage of the drama success and promoted this early
I was happily surprised by Mark’s acting. I like him since Black & White but he brought on his A game to the drama. As for Yangmi, I was not impressed as her acting has been bland for many years now. Her fighting scenes were awkward, and her character was mostly indifferent. As a queen of fox tribe, she has no regal air to her character at all whatsoever, from the beginning to the end. Even Dilabra was shown with a queen air during her ceremony. She looked and felt like this is the beginning of her ruling the kingdom, whereas Yangmi the whole entire drama was just a lazy girl next door. The reason why the chemistry even exist between her and Mark was due to Mark’s acting. He carried the heck out of both of them. That was the biggest reason why I couldn’t be pulled in by their chemistry because the acting ability was so unbalanced.
+1 Totally agree about YM!
I love when people only credit the male lead’s for everything. It’s even funnier here when YM apparently has chemistry with almost everyone she works with. Oh, most actors got bigger after working with her too to name a few FSF only got big after working with her, same with LYF and HX got bigger after working with her. Now MZ also broke to superstar-dom. But yes, she must be too bad
You can have your opinion she isn’t regal enough… But BQ’s character isn’t supposed to be super regal to begin with if she was mistake to be a small deity when YH-BQ first met again, right? The girl next door is Susu and there is a huge difference between YM’s BQ and Susu and YM did well to convert how different they are when she didn’t even over-reacting.
you know when the movie release??
i know this Eternal Love first from Yang Yang filmografi and think his play inside this drama then know is Mark Chao. but its very awesome and happy to watch this drama. I hope the film also awesome like this drama.