"Joey Wong Returns After 22 Years: The Secret Behind Her Unchanging Beauty"

Joey Wong Appears Once Again in Her "A Chinese Ghost Story" Persona
Hong Kong Actor Lawrence Ng Also Joins as an AI Actor

A game promotional video capturing the exact appearance of Joey Wong from the movie "A Chinese Ghost Story" has been released in China, drawing significant attention.

On July 21, several Chinese media outlets reported that Joey Wong had reappeared before the public through a short film titled "Qianying," produced to promote NetEase's game "Tianxia." The 90-second video was jointly produced by Chinese IT firm NetEase and an AI technology company under ByteDance.

Sina Entertainment explained, "Joey Wong in the video is exactly as she appeared in 'A Chinese Ghost Story,' which has caused much surprise. She did not apply makeup, attend the filming site, or even perform. The video was produced entirely using AI."

Local fans in China have also expressed astonishment. This is due to the extraordinary realism—the movements of her eyebrows, blinking eyes, the subtle tilt of her head when speaking, and even the way her hair sways in the wind—all details so sophisticated that it is hard to believe they were generated by AI.

According to NetEase, the result was made possible by having its AI learn from over 200,000 frames of Joey Wong’s facial expressions and over 15 years of accumulated video material. The company stated, "A dedicated team worked meticulously for around 11 months to complete this project."

A game promotional video capturing the exact appearance of Joey Wong from the movie "A Chinese Ghost Story" has been released in China, drawing attention. NetEase.

Sina Entertainment further commented, "It's astonishing to see a legendary actress choosing to cross the river of time herself and become an AI actor. This is not a resurrection, but a translation." They went on to describe it as "a case of transforming her irretrievable beauty into a sustainable digital cultural asset."

This trend of digitally recreating retired or aging major celebrities using AI appears to be becoming established in China's pop culture sector. Recently, Hong Kong actor Lawrence Ng also agreed to sign a contract to appear in an AI film. The production company plans to use AI, modeled after video data from his twenties, to make him the lead in a mystery sci-fi film. He remarked, "I didn't even look at the script. I was moved to tears just watching the test footage," expressing his amazement at the technology that reproduced his youthful self so perfectly.

A game promotional video capturing Joey Wong's appearance exactly as in the movie "A Chinese Ghost Story" has been released locally in China, drawing much attention. NetEase.

A game promotional video capturing the exact appearance of Joey Wong from the movie A Chinese Ghost Story has been unveiled in China, drawing significant attention. NetEase.

However, this type of 'digital resurrection' has its downside. Recently in China, concerns have grown over the livelihood threats AI actors pose to real actors and on-site staff. In the first quarter of this year, about 128,000 short-form dramas were produced in China, and as many as 122,000 of them were made using AI. As backgrounds, characters, and stories become entirely replaceable by AI, extras and production crew are rapidly losing their place in the industry.

Joey Wong rose to stardom through the 1987 movie "A Chinese Ghost Story." She then went on to solidify her status as one of Hong Kong’s leading actresses, starring in works such as "Diary of a Big Man" and "God of Gamblers." Since retiring in 2004 and emigrating to Canada, she has rarely appeared in public.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.