The Wandering Earth is a Chinese science fiction movie released on February 5 (Chinese New Year) that rivals Hollywood's sci-fi hit films Gravity and Interstellar. The movie, loaded with extravagant special effects, could now inspire China to make more sci-fi movies.
The Wandering Earth is adapted from the novel of the same name written by renowned sci-fi author Liu Cixin. He is the first author in Asia who won the Hugo Award for Best Novel for The Three-Body Problem in 2015.
The Wandering Earth is now being praised by many people in China, generating positive reviews. The movie industry in the country had spectacular growth over the past decades, but the science fiction genre is being left behind due to complex plots, as well as huge technical costs, the South China Morning Post reported.
Ji Shaoting, the official promoter of the film and the co-founder of the Future Affairs Administration, said many Chinese movies and TV companies want to make more sci-fi productions but they lack basic knowledge and understanding regarding the genre, so a lot of Chinese sci-fi movies have substandard productions.
Foreign sci-fi movies such as Gravity, Lucy, and Interstellar were all blockbuster in China, while Chinese sci-fi films like Metallic Attraction: Kungfu Cyborg (2009) and Future X-Cops (2010) reportedly had embarrassing productions as elements of science fiction do not even constitute the main plot.
But, The Wandering Earth could be the film China has been waiting for and could inspire Chinese filmmakers to make more movies under the sci-fi genre. The movie shows how a group of brave Chinese astronauts save the world due to the imminent destruction of the sun. They are the sole adventurers in the global space community determined to accomplish the arduous mission of fending off the apocalypse - like Hollywood sci-fi movies where Americans were portrayed as the only ones who can save the Earth and humanity.
Actor Wu Jing, who played the role of a Chinese astronaut stationed in space and been away from his family for years, said 2019 is the "inaugural" year of Chinese sci-fi movies due to the release of the latest movie. Although he revealed he's not a huge fan of the genre, he said the making of The Wandering Earth had helped him to understand the sci-fi more.
Wu also said no Chinese filmmakers have ever made anything like The Wandering Earth, wherein 7,000 reportedly worked on the movie.
"It has at least nurtured 7,000 people's basic knowledge in science fiction movies," he said.
Meanwhile, during the recent discussion held at the China Science and Technology Museum in Beijing, movie director Frant Gwo said he's a fan of science fiction since he was a kid and he now realized his dream of producing a sci-fi movie.
He said they've learned Hollywood production flow and methods while making The Wandering Earth. They've already overcome many unimaginable difficulties, so he's hoping the movie would inspire more directors to try the sci-fi genre.
