On April 27, Sohu announced a lot of information related to the Chinese entertainment industry.
The report said that in the first quarter of this year, the number of long television series started filming by 4 major video platforms (Tencent Video, iQiYi, Mango TV, Youku) announced was only 28 works. This number is slightly higher than the 23 series of the same period in 2025, but still much lower than the 55 series in 2022.
If following this pace, the total number of Chinese films started filming in the whole year of 2026 is very difficult to exceed 150 sets. Platforms also focus on selecting actors and "safe" topics that have been market-verified.
The battle for actors' remuneration is entering a period of comprehensive tightening. For top actors in the age of 40-50, the cát-xê for the number 1 male lead role has decreased by 70% compared to the peak period, if playing supporting roles, the remuneration will be cut even more deeply.
Faced with this situation, many actors actively reduced their salaries to promote projects to be approved.
Even because the number of film projects has decreased sharply, many famous actors are willing to accept playing supporting roles to be able to participate in a large potential project.
Meanwhile, platforms tend to choose artists who bring higher value and benefits.
Sohu revealed that Tong Uy Long, Vuong Tinh Viet and Tran Triet Vien are currently the male actors most favored by the platform when reviewing idol ancient costume film projects.
The reason is that the platform sees in them advantages in terms of audience layers, commercial potential, or accompanying resources that actors can bring.
In the case of Vuong Tinh Viet, Sohu said that the level of recognition of this actor on the platform is always very high, not only because of good professional ability, but also thanks to resources from his "boss" who is producer Vu Chinh (the head of Vuong Tinh Viet's management company).
In addition, Sohu emphasized that no actor is "absolutely certain to be approved". But some names are considered to have high assurance in terms of both national identity and acting skills such as Truong Dich, Vu Hoa Vy, Tran Dao Minh.
Recently, information from the entertainment industry spread on social networks that a 1990-1995 generation actor "4 films were not approved". This news has caused audiences to discuss excitedly and curiously about the identity of the person being mentioned.
However, according to Sohu, there is not just one actor in "4 films not approved". This shows that the level of competition in the film industry is increasingly fierce.
When the industry size is narrowed, platforms have more choices, so they will conduct stricter calculations about the suitability between actors and characters, as well as the project's return on investment.
