劉玨

What does the success ofThe Wandering Earth spell for the future of Chinese cinema and sci-fi？

The Wandering Earth， an adaption of a short story by award-winning sci-fi author Liu Cixin， was always intended to be a roaring success.

Four years in the making， with a budget of 500 million RMB （75 million USD） and a 7，000-strong production team， this was to be no cookie-cutter production—but a sign， as one New York Times headline declared， that “Chinas Film Industry Finally Joins the Space Race.”

Set in a future where the Earth is facing an expanding Sun， the plot follows a scheme to use giant engines to motor the planet on a multi-generational， 2，500-year journey to a new home in a neighboring solar system. Unfortunately， Earth gets caught in Jupiters gravity field en route， and a team of transporters must come up with another plan to save the human race from extinction.

Buoyed by a Spring Festival opening，Earthbroke a single-day box-office record， later hitting 4.1 billion RMB （609 million USD） to become Chinas second-highest grossing movie after?Wolf Warrior 2（2017）， with which it shares a star， Wu Jing. The film even managed to make over 96.6 million USD in the US， Australia， and New Zealand， according to Variety， while streaming rights were soon snapped up by Netflix.

Domestic sci-fi has a checkered past. Chinas first sci-film film wasDeath Ray on Coral Island（1980）， in which scientists protect atomic technology from being used as a weapon by an evil foreign company. Another early production， 1988s?Wonder Boy， was a childrens story about a boy with the power to produce and control electricity， whileThe Ozone Layer Vanishes（1990） focused on environmental issues.

Other films contained sci-fi elements， but it wasnt until Liu Cixin became the first Asian author to win a Hugo Award in 2015 that the idea of producing a special effects-heavy space odyssey likeEarthbegan to seem financially feasible. It didnt hurt that such an epic would also chime with Chinas recent space ambitions.

Even then， there were hurdles for 39-year-old director Guo Fan （Frant Gwo）， who was repeatedly told that it was beyond the Chinese film industrys ?capability to make a satisfactory sci-fi film; audiences were used to Hollywood productions， so expectations would be sky-high. Another film based on Lius most renowned work，The Three-Body Problem， has been indefinitely stuck in post-production since 2016.

For Guo， Hollywoods secret is its high level of industrialized filmmaking， which he experienced first-hand in a study tour in 2014. Describing the process of filming?Earthto China Economic Weekly， Guo mentions using software so that ?different scriptwriters work would be searchable during production， and clarifying the job descriptions of all the crew—procedures that have long been standardized in Hollywood， but were almost unheard-of in China.

Since its release， the film has been widely embraced by those who claim its plot and themes are uniquely Chinese. The idea of moving the Earth， rather than finding a new planet， is said to reflect Chinese peoples attachment to their homeland， as opposed to themes of exploration and colonization often depicted in Western cinema.

The films emphasis on homecoming， though at times heavy-handed， prompted the Peoples Daily to claim that it “displayed fully the cultural confidence of Chinese films，” while Xinhua Agency interpreted the plots use of “collective power to accomplish major projects” as showcasing the “community of common destiny” concept that the state has been pushing through its Belt and Road Initiative.

Not all the feedback was positive. On Douban， considered the most credible rating platform in China， an influx of one-star reviews drove?Earths initial rating of 8.6 down to 7.9 within days of its release， and debate is raging over whether these were from paid trolls or legitimate critics.

Some criticized Wu Jing for playing the same stereotypical hero that he does in theWolf Warriorseries， while others were disappointed with the superficial treatment of the original material. “Besides Liu Cixins magnificent imagination of the universe， his insights on human nature and forms of society are even more brilliant，” wrote one disgusted reviewer on Douban. “The movie castrated itself [and] lowered itself to an American popcorn film，” （The film has drawn comparisons with a number of Hollywood films， including2001： A Space Odyssey， Armageddon， The Core， Gravity， and Interstellar.）

The story told on screen is indeed far different from Lius original tale， which had its atmosphere of impending doom in which arts and philosophy， religious beliefs， family structures， love， and faith have all given way to the survival instinct. Plotlines such as bloody conflicts between “Earth advocates” and “spaceship advocates” are passed over in favor of a story that has humanity rallying around a single plan.

Still， audience can expect a truly original story with Chinese elements， and 2019 will see even more domestic sci-fi releases， such asShanghai Fortress， depicting an arduous war against alien invaders;Pathfinder， about a group of space travelers fighting for survival in an alien desert; andWarriors of Future， in which a futuristic team of soldiers battle aliens.

Yet as these identical-sounding plotlines suggest， Chinese filmmakers and investors are still far from figuring if the real winning formula is a story with “Chinese characteristics，” or the full Hollywood treatment.