China Focus: Chinese sci-fi blockbuster pulls out of theaters after grossing 4.6 bln yuan

Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-07 20:25:34|Editor: mingmei
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BEIJING, May 7 (Xinhua) -- "The Wandering Earth," an adaption of Liu Cixin's story of humans struggling to move Earth to a new home, officially pulled out of theaters on the Chinese mainland on May 6 after grossing more than 4.6 billion yuan (690 million U.S. dollars) in the 90 days since its Feb. 5 debut.

Beijing Jingxi Culture and Tourism Co., the company that co-produced the movie, made the announcement on Monday evening via its social media account.

"The Wandering Earth" has become the country's second highest grossing film of all time, only behind the Chinese action movie "Wolf Warrior 2" that took in 5.6 billion yuan, according to China Movie Data Information Network.

It tells about an ambitious project of mankind to propel Earth out of the solar system which is to be devastated by a rapidly expanding Sun.

Hailed as China's first blockbuster sci-fi film, the production wowed the viewers with spectacular special effects, which are widely deemed to be on a par with Hollywood standards, and the Chinese values of family, love and responsibility were conveyed in a way that resonated with the global audience.

Sci-fi movies will have a bright future especially in China where such movies will likely flourish, Liu told Xinhua in an earlier interview. The science fiction trilogy "The Three-Body Problem," which made him the first Asian writer to win the Hugo Award in 2015, has been translated into almost 20 different languages.

Apart from creating a sci-fi craze across China, "The Wandering Earth" gained lots of attention from non-Chinese audiences and media.

U.S. online entertainment giant Netflix announced in February that it had bought the rights of the film, which would be translated into 28 languages for the company's streaming service in over 190 countries and regions.

It is not known whether the film will be overtaken by Disney and Marvel's "Avengers: Endgame," which generated 3.9 billion yuan in the Chinese mainland box office in the 13 days since its premiere on April 24.

"Avengers: Endgame" continued to top Chinese mainland daily box office despite a drop of daily grossing Monday. It generated 33.79 million yuan, compared with 51.12 million yuan from the previous day.

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