Successor

A wealthy man in Xihong City fears that his eldest son, raised in comfort, lacks the discipline to take over the family business. Together with his wife, he decides to raise the boy differently: the family hides its fortune, moves into a run-down neighborhood and keeps up the appearance of poverty. The hope is that this invented hardship will teach the son industry, sound money habits, physical fitness and persistence. The gap between the family's real circumstances and the life they stage for him drives the comedy.

Successor is a Chinese comedy directed by Yan Fei and Peng Damo, who also wrote the screenplay with Lin Bingbao. It follows the pair's earlier comedies Goodbye Mr. Loser (2015) and Hello Mr. Billionaire (2018). Shen Teng plays Ma Chenggang, with Ma Li as Chunlan, Shi Pengyuan as Ma Jiye, Sa Rina as the grandmother, Xiao Bochen as the younger Ma Jiye and Zhang Zidong as Ma Dajun; thirty cast members are credited. Released in July 2024, the film runs 133 minutes and was produced by Tencent Penguin Pictures, China Film Group Corporation, Alibaba Pictures Group and Wanda Media Co. It took in about 422 million dollars worldwide, a strong commercial result for a comedy of this kind. On IMDb it holds 6.8/10 from around 1,700 votes, while on TMDB it has 7/10 from about 92 votes.