Big-budget iGirl tests waters in online film market

Hong Kong commercial film director Wong Jing is known for his close ties to a certain market. When he announced in Beijing on Tuesday that he will cooperate with online-video giant iQiyi for his upcoming sci-fi film, his message was clear: Forget about general interest. This is a film only for young netizens.

Produced by Wong, iGirl, which is basically about a man's adventures with his robot girlfriend, will be released on iQiyi in March.

Neither the booking of lead actor Ekin Cheng, who is an idol for the generation that grew up in the 1990s, nor the 10 million yuan ($1.52 million) budget seem outlandish in today's booming film market.