Successor (2024 film)

The film opens in 2017, with two teachers visiting the house of Jiye, their student. They are appalled at the apparent state of extreme poverty. Through flashbacks, the film shows the truth about Jiye's origins.

Chenggang Ma, a wealthy man in Xihong City, worries that his eldest son is too spoiled to succeed him. Determined to raise a capable successor, he turns his focus to his younger son, Jiye, born to his second wife, Chunlan. (the name Jiye literally means Inherit the Business) Baby Jiye was obese and had everything he wanted. His father on the other hand grew up in poverty, he realizes that growing up in wealth was poisoning Jiye and making him unsuitable to inherit the family business. To his wife's utter disgust, he moves them to his old family home, forcing Jiye to abandon sweets, technology and wealth cold turkey. They also hire a professional nanny to implement the correct strategies and act as his grandmother.

They maintain an illusion of poverty, so that Jiye could develop qualities such as hard work, knowledge, careful budgeting, physical fitness, and perseverance. He runs to school, collects empty bottles for profit, and in the evening reads books. His father has hired workers and strategically located them all over Xihong City to monitor and have staged interactions with Jiye (buying vegetables for the family, practicing English, ensuring he is on time for school). Hidden doors and compartments throughout the house reveal the hidden staff who prepares their food, washes their clothes and monitors Jiye 24/7.

He is kidnapped by his older brother who tries to indulge him with expensive baths and gifts. After rescuing him they discover that he has secretly bought a tablet and is playing video games. Stashing it in the toilet box when not seen, the tablet breaks and the electronics store refuses to give him a refund for it. The family "forgives" him and he recuperates some of the money by picking up hundreds of bottles from a soccer game played by Daxiang team (a reference to Shen's previous film, Hello Mr. Billionaire, which takes place in the same city). Jiye also befriends Feifei Zhang.

By 2024, Jiye is now in his senior year of High School and preparing for the Gaokao. They have high hopes he will enter Qingbei University. He is still riding the same bike and living under the same surveillance. At school he openly expresses suspicions of his life being controlled and his destiny being decided, but is rebuffed. On his way home, he encounters the nanny playing basketball and chases after her. He doesn't catch her in time and the family tries to distract him. Later, they pretend that she died.

Feifei hears about his paranoias and tells him that she saw his parents at a posh apartment (their original house) where their older brother still lives. The older brother got bad grades and accomplished nothing in life. Jiye shows up and they convince him that they are simply cleaning workers for them. Seeing a Dove at the bottom of the pool triggers a memory of his early childhood, but Jiye convinces them that he is still in the ruse. Chenggang's workers gag the brother and trap him in the bathroom.

On the day of the Gaokao, after it is over, they cannot find him anywhere. They think Jiye's brother has kidnapped him; the day is replayed from Jiye's point of view. He draws a Dove on his Gaokao answer sheet and leaves the hall early. He finds and breaks into the secret entrance to the underground planning room, revealing everything about his childhood. His father initially congratulates him but then loses his temper and starts berating him for throwing away all of their efforts. Jiye insists that he needs to plan his own future and make his own decisions. He runs into a pond where a group of kids are playing; his parents and everyone who work for them just stand and watch. His brother's plan is revealed to be an effort to climb mountains in the Himalayas. While running a marathon in Paris, Jiye repeatedly stops to collect water bottles as he did in his childhood.

• Shen Teng as Ma Chenggang^[4]
• Ma Li as Chunlan^[4]
• Shi Pengyuan as Ma Jiye
  • Xiao Bochen as young Ma Jiye
• Sa Rina as Grandma / Teacher Li
• Zhang Zidong as Ma Dajun
• Jia Bing as President Jia
• Wei Xiang as Mr. Wei
• Li Jiaqi as Zhang Feifei

Successor was released on July 16, 2024 in China. Internationally the film was released by CMC Pictures, starting on August 2, 2024.^[5] On October 1, 2024, after earning 3.226 billion yuan at the box office, the top 2024 summer movie, "Successor ",^[6] started online broadcasting. It was launched on video platforms such as iQiyi, Tencent Video, and Youku.^{[citation needed]} On September 25, the film was scheduled to be broadcast online and aired on Tencent Video on September 30.^{[citation needed]}

On June 15, 2024, the film released a release poster and announced that it would be released nationwide on July 18.^[7] On June 27, the film released a trailer.^[8] On July 2, the film was officially announced to be released in China on July 16.^[9] On July 8, the film released a "full harvest" trailer. On the same day, the film released posters in CINITY, IMAX, China Giant Screen, and Dolby Cinema formats.^[10] On August 7, the film announced an extension on its release to September 15,^[11] and again on September 5 extending its release to October 15.^[12]

As of October 28, 2024, Successor has received a rating of more than 8.0 on Douban, with a box office of $3.328 billion yuan.^[13] It is currently the ninth highest-grossing film of 2024.^[14]