For love of money

Liu Yifei and Rain attend the Beijing press conference to promote their romance production For Money Or Love. Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn

The first film to be adapted from Amy Siu-Haan Cheung's classic novel, For Love Or Money, seems to suggest that fan frenzy can turn a mediocre production into a box-office hit.

Based on the Hong Kong best-selling author's book of the same name, the movie has fetched a total of 54.8 million yuan ($8.9 million) in box-office revenues in the first week since its release on Nov 7 .

But, the romance, featuring a somewhat vicious version of Cinderella's story, got a low reception on a dozen major film review websites, such as douban.com (with a score of 5.2 points on a scale of 10) and mtime.com (with 5.5 points).

Most reviewers have criticized the stereotypical storyline and coarse shooting of the movie, which is the first feature-length attempt by TV series director Gao Xixi.

Gao, 52, has shot to fame for a series of epic TV productions, including the new version of The Romance of Three Kingdoms. 

"Undoubtedly, the only highlights in the movie are lead actor Rain and actress Liu Yifei. The ticket is worthy just for admiring their pretty faces on the big screen," a blogger wrote on douban.com. The comment was reposted on the site.