"The Wandering Earth" counterattacks Wu Mengda: When I read the script, I didn't believe it was written by a Chinese

In the sci-fi film market that is almost "dominated" by Hollywood, the appearance of the Chinese film "The Wandering Earth" has given people hope for Chinese sci-fi. The film achieved a box office comeback on February 7, the third day of the Chinese New Year, and won the single-day box office championship for the first time. Actor Wu Mengda revealed in an interview that before filming, he didn't even believe that the script was written by a Chinese.

At that time, Wu Mengda joined the crew with great doubts, but the company believed that it would be a great benefit for Wu Mengda to have the opportunity to shoot a pure science fiction film produced in China in his film and television career. After learning that the producer and others were all Chinese, Wu Mengda also began to be more interested.

Wu Mengda, 65 years old this year, plays Wu Jing's father in the film. He is set to be born in 1999 in the film. He is the only "post-95" in the film, the oldest, and the only person in the film who was born in the same era as us in reality. After all, the story is set in the future of 2075.

Since its release on the first day of the Chinese New Year, The Wandering Earth has received overwhelming praise, and its screening and box office have risen against the trend. On the second day of the Chinese New Year, The Wandering Earth's box office rose by 37.5% month-on-month, and its screening share on the third day of the Chinese New Year was already the highest. This is the first time in recent years that the box office has not yet reversed, but the screening schedule has been adjusted in advance. According to data from Maoyan Movie Professional Edition, The Wandering Earth's box office on the first day was 187 million yuan, and as of press time, the cumulative box office has reached 901 million yuan.

Many foreign and Hong Kong media have also paid attention to this film and given it high praise. The New York Times even linked China's breakthrough in the space field to the film, believing that a new era of Chinese science fiction filmmaking and a new era of space exploration have begun.

The title of an article published in The New York Times on February 4th local time is quite interesting: "Chinese Films Finally Join the Space Race."

The article links Chinese science fiction films to the great progress made in my country's space exploration this year, saying that China is a latecomer in space exploration and, in movies, in science fiction, but that is about to change. "The Wandering Earth" will be the beginning of a new era in Chinese filmmaking.

With the landing of Chang'e-4 on the back of the moon, The New York Times said that although China's space exploration once lagged behind the United States and Russia by decades, it now has ambitious plans to join and even lead the new era of space exploration.

When paying attention to China's Lunar New Year movies, the American Hollywood news front "Deadline" mentioned Han Han's movie "Flying Life" and Peppa Pig, which children love. However, the article believes that among the more than ten films released on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the most anticipated is the epic blockbuster "The Wandering Earth", which may become a breakthrough point to ignite the local science fiction film industry.

The Indian media "News18" focused on the plot of the movie itself, and believed that although the background setting was not very novel, the Indian media exclaimed "Wow" about the plot of "taking the earth to another solar system"!

“The Wandering Earth’s story unfolds on a premise that is familiar to fans. A bleak future, a dying humanity, a few brave warriors, cutting-edge technology, and overused memes: all the preparations are bound to run into systemic flaws. But there is one never-before-seen element to The Wandering Earth’s storyline, as Earth as we know it is being taken into another solar system. Wow!”

The article concludes, "Since Chinese science fiction films are still in their infancy, Bollywood can certainly draw inspiration from them."

An article in Hong Kong's South China Morning Post on the 4th was even more generous in its praise, calling "The Wandering Earth" an epic Chinese science fiction film, filled with various special effects, comparable to Hollywood space blockbusters "Interstellar" and "Gravity."

Leading figures in China's science and technology community have praised the film, saying it heralds a new dawn for Chinese science fiction films.

The article recalls that in the past, Chinese science fiction films were of low quality and had poor box office performance. According to the 2018 China Science Fiction Industry Report released by the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, the total box office revenue of Chinese science fiction films in 2017 was 13 billion yuan, but Chinese films accounted for only 1.3 billion yuan, or 10%. In the first half of 2018, the total box office revenue of Chinese science fiction films was 9.5 billion yuan, of which only 890 million yuan (9%) came from Chinese films.

In 2016, Li Zhaoxin, partner of the Future Affairs Bureau, said in an interview that it might take 10 years for Chinese science fiction works to reach the level of Hollywood movies at the box office in China.

"Science fiction films account for a very high proportion of box office revenue, and it is impossible for local film companies and capital to hand over the profits of the industry to Hollywood. But this process may take 10 years. We believe in local science fiction works and we are willing to wait."

Once expected for 10 years, the South China Morning Post believes that with the emergence of "The Wandering Earth", this long wait may end early.

"China landed on the far side of the moon, which no one had done before, and these scientific achievements and developments have laid a solid foundation," said Wu Jing, the film's star. "No Chinese filmmaker has ever made a movie like The Wandering Earth. Seven thousand people were involved in the production of this film, and it at least gave seven thousand people basic knowledge in the science fiction film industry."

Indeed, judging by the box office, this Chinese science fiction film has been a huge success. According to data from Maoyan Movie Professional Edition, The Wandering Earth grossed 187 million yuan on its first day, and as of press time, it has accumulated a total of 901 million yuan. It currently has a Maoyan score of 9.3 and a Douban score of 8.1.