Li Yapeng reopens the bible of love

The romantic TV series Eternal Moment that debuted 12 years ago is to have a big screen adaptation.

The 20-episode drama about the dreams and love lives of six young people, in 1998, was a bible of love for young people then.

At a time when few TV series focused on campus romance, the show was an instant success, with its beautiful, vigorous cast and romantic storylines.

Now, its director Zhang Yibai, has summoned the original leading cast to reprise their roles in the film, which will premiere on Valentine's Day, 2011.

Most of the main actors in the original drama have risen to become full-fledged celebrities, such as leading man Li Yapeng and his love interest Xu Jinglei.

Li is now a veteran actor and founder of Smiling Angel, a charity that offers free operations for children with cleft lips. Xu has directed three films and won several international awards for filmmaking.

"The show means a lot to me," says Li, now a father to two daughters. "It helped me and many of my co-actors grow. I used to be fearless and think love was the only thing in life, but now I know there are many important things in life other than love, such as responsibility, marriage, parents, to list just a few."

This will be Li's last big screen work, as he plans to quit his acting job and focus on charity causes after the film.

Li's role in the original show, a strong, independent young man from an impoverished family, brought him instant fame in the late 1990s. He later played a few roles in TV dramas adapted from Louis Cha's wuxia novels, but received mixed reviews.

The new movie will be like a school reunion for the actors involved.

"I was nervous 12 years ago, but now it is a lot of fun," says Xu. "In many films I was just decoration, but in this one I will be a real character."

She does not worry people will compare the new movie with the TV drama.

"For me it is the start of a better decade," she says.

The film is not a remake, but a sequel to the story 12 years ago. Li and Xu's characters broke up in the TV drama but meet up again in the film, as two people trapped in a middle age crisis.

Shot in Beijing, Shanghai and Bordeaux, France, the film will present three endings for the viewers to choose the one they like.