'The Lychee Road' tops weekend box office

In just three days, The Lychee Road surpassed the animated blockbuster The Legend of Hei 2 to become the country's new box-office champion over the weekend.

As of Sunday, the film had grossed 200 million yuan ($27.8 million) at the box office, with its total earnings estimated to exceed 660 million yuan, according to the industry information tracker and analyst Maoyan Pro.

The film, adapted from Ma Boyong's best-selling novel The Litchi Road, follows low-ranking official Li Shande as he is forced to undertake a seemingly impossible task: transporting highly perishable lychees on a treacherous 2,600-kilometer journey — a trip that normally takes over 20 days — and delivering them in just five days to ensure they remain fresh as a birthday gift for the emperor's favorite concubine.

Director Dong Chengpeng, more known by his stage name Dapeng, who shot to fame from his directorial effort Jian Bing Man, revealed during the Beijing premiere that he convinced actress Yang Mi to be on board as soon as the project started the script adaptation.

Dong said that while writing the character of Li's wife — the role Yang plays — he had drawn inspiration from Yang's personality traits, particularly her self-reliance and confidence, which has ultimately shaped the character to closely resemble Yang.

Interestingly, novelist Ma is also making his acting debut in the film, despite his blink-and-miss three-second appearance. The scene features Ma as an unnamed official, standing among a group of fellow officials alongside the emperor's prime minister — a very powerful figure played by Hong Kong star Andy Lau, who is also the concubine's brother.

The film, set during Tang Dynasty (618-907), was released on Friday.