Millions in China inspired by drastic transformation of actress Jia Ling swoon over uplifting theme song of her box office hit ‘You Only Live Once’
- Jia’s recently released theme song for her movie encourages self-love
- Slimmed-down star is world’s highest-grossing female film director
The physical transformation of famous Chinese director and actress Jia Ling from a bubbly, full-figured personality to a svelte, sexy icon, combined with the release of the theme song from her hit movie has wowed the mainland public.
Jia’s latest film, Re La Gun Tang, or You Only Live Once, which made its debut on February 10, has taken in 2.8 billion yuan (US$390 million) at the mainland box office.
This makes it the highest-grossing film in China over the eight-day Spring Festival holiday, Jimu News reported.
According to the China Film Administration, the total box office take for movies in the country during the holiday period exceeded a record eight billion yuan and attracted 163 million people to cinemas nationwide.
During the making of the film about a jobless and obese woman who “found her true self” after taking up boxing, Jia first added 20kg in weight before slimming down by 50kg within a year.
On February 18, Jia released the movie’s theme song There is Still Time for Everything on Weibo.