“My Stand-In,” an action drama that starts shooting imminently, is a new Thai-language original series for Chinese streaming platform iQiyi.
Fitting the booming ‘Boys Love’ genre, the series is a screen adaptation of a hit Chinese-language web novel “Stand-In Ship” written by Shui Qiancheng. The underlying novel has garnered over a billion readers on platforms including Weibo and iQiyi Novels.
The streamer also reports that “My Stand-In” is the first Chinese web novel to be adapted into a Thai drama.
The story follows a passionate stunt double, who falls in love with Yan Mingxiu, the young scion of the Yan family. He gives his all for this relationship, only to shockingly discover that he is merely a stand-in for a famous star, both on and off the screen. Even after the stunt man undergoes a two-year rebirth and comes to accept his position, the two men remain connected.
Production is by iQiyi and Thailand’s YYDS Entertainment, with producer “Yuan” Wan Thabkrajang (“I Feel You Linger in the Air”). The show is directed by “Pepzi” Banchorn Vorasataree and co-director “Khom” Kongkiat Khomsiri, who were involved as creators of “KinnPorsche,” another prominent BL show for iQiyi.
Two main on-screen leads are Thai actors “Up” Poompat Iam-Saman and “Poom” Phuripan Sapsangsawat, who respectively portray the character of Yan Mingxiu, a member of the 188 boy band with a deep and passionate personality, and Zhou Xiang, Yan Ming’s lover who is gentle, mature, and caring.
The show will be completed in 2024 and be available worldwide exclusively on iQiyi international website and apps). It will not be available in China.
Iqiyi is one of the two leading premium video streaming platforms in China and has for the last several years pushed into Asian and other international markets with significantly different content offerings. Its international operations are largely directed from Singapore.
For the three months to June, iQiyi reported an average daily number of subscribing members, excluding individuals with trial memberships, at 110.7 million. That compared with 97.7 million for the same period in 2022, but also represented a steep decline from the 128.1 million reported at the end of first quarter in 2023. The company does not disclose the breakdown of subscribers inside China and abroad.
