China’s first-ever sci-fi blockbuster has certainly turned out to be a rather profitable one.
The Wandering Earth has now grossed a whopping 3.79 billion yuan ($560 million) in just two weeks, making it the second-highest grossing movie of all-time in China.
That’s quite the achievement for a movie that ranked only fourth on its opening day, the first day of the Chinese New Year. Now, only the nationalistic action blockbuster Wolf Warrior 2 has ever earned more money at the Chinese box office, at a seemingly unreachable 5.67 billion yuan ($840 million).
Based on a novella of the same name by Hugo-winning author Liu Cixin, the film has also earned praise from both critics and audiences alike. On Douban (China’s IMDb), it holds a rating of 7.9 out of 10.
In addition, The Wandering Earth has also apparently received the official seal of approval. Last week, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying recommended watching the movie at a regular press conference in Beijing while the week before the People’s Daily penned a fawning review with the headline: “As expected, only Chinese can save the Earth.”
It remains to be seen if The Wandering Earth’s incredible success will change the future of China’s film industry forever and usher in a new era of sci-fi moviemaking, however, the flick will at least go down as the first in Chinese cinema to show the destruction of Beijing and Shanghai.
