Fan Bingbing Return Divides Social Media

Fan Bingbing, once China’s most ubiquitous famous face but now barely seen following her huge tax scandal, looks to still be on course for a big screen comeback after showing up in the first trailer for Jessica Chastain-led spy flick The 355.

It's been two years since Fan — who plays “mysterious woman” Lin Misheng in the film alongside Lupita Nyong’o, Penelope Cruz, and Diane Kruger — disappeared suddenly from the public eye and was eventually hit with an enormous fine for tax evasion. 

Despite her subsequent struggles to return to the limelight in China, The 355 has pressed ahead with her in the production. The trailer tells us to expect the film’s release “next year.”

According to the film’s official blurb, it sees “a dream team of formidable female stars come together in a hard-driving original approach to the globe-trotting espionage genre.”

Given at least some of the movie is set in Shanghai and given the attention-grabbing cast, it will be interesting to see whether the Simon Kinberg-helmed picture will be granted a release in the country amid Fan’s ongoing pariah status. China is set to become the world’s largest box office and — in part thanks to the impact of Covid-19 on cinemas across the globe — could even seal that status this year.

Regardless of the movie’s chances of release in China, it hasn’t taken The 355 trailer long to garner plenty of attention on Chinese social media. Fan herself has not yet posted about the trailer from her Weibo account, instead choosing to use Instagram to promote the movie, but the site has seen plenty of discussion around the preview all the same. 

The top-rated comment on a Weibo post about the story that has attracted over 200,000 likes simply reads, “An artist who evades taxes.”

The second-most upvoted comment bemoans “the irony of putting such an actor in front of the national flag,” referring to the promotional materials for the film.

However, there are a number of highly-liked positive comments as well, with many expressing excitement at the international nature of the project and that Fan is part of the cast.

Meanwhile, Chastain has posted messages of support on the Chinese star’s Instagram, with one reading: “The QUEEN is back.”

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