Feng Xiaogang to Direct 2014 Spring Festival Gala

Feng Xiaogang, director of war drama Remembering 1942 and If You Are The One parts one and two, will direct the 2014 China Central Television (CCTV) Spring Festival Gala, one of the world's most watched television shows, state media reported.

A Beijing native and one of China's most commercially successful directors, Feng will be a director of next year's show, not the sole helmsman. He will share his duties with Guo Jihong, who has directed several editions of the gala, which reaches 95 percent of China's 1.3 billion people and is now as essential to the holiday's celebration as jiaozi are to a Beijing family on the holiday.

This is the first time in its 31-year history that a non-CCTV director will handle the show. However, poor reviews of the last few galas may have prompted CCTV – for whom the show brings in Super Bowl-level advertising rates – to turn a more commercial and populist eye for the next episode.

Aside from his box office cred, Feng seems well-qualified to bring a reinvigorated show to the masses: his 2007 film Assembly won best film and best director awards at that year's Pyongyang International Film Festival. If the Dear Leader liked him, he'll be a hit over the holiday dinner table too.

Photo: English.sina.com.