A festive film fight

Crazy Alien-the third installment of Ning's Crazy dark-comedy franchise-is a sci-fi film about two friends drawn into a series of adventures after they encounter an extraterrestrial being.

Han is perhaps the most-successful writer-turned-director in recent years on the mainland.

He uses a familiar formula in his new film, which focuses on Zhang Chi-a former race car driver, who runs an open-air fried-rice street stall-who aspires to restore his lost glory by returning to racing. But, ironically, he must get a driver's license first.

Both films star Shen Teng, who will also make a cameo in the forthcoming comedy, Overall Planning, another film scheduled for Feb 5.

Kung fu giant Jackie Chan, who has frequently featured in previous Spring Festival hits, will return to the big screen on the first day of the holiday in his adventure film, The Knight of Shadows: Between Yin and Yang. It's a fictional account on the legendary Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) writer Pu Songling (1640-1715).

Crazy Alien is one of three sci-fi films that will be screened during the holiday. This is hailed as a breakthrough, since domestic filmmakers have been considered weak in the genre for decades.

The most-anticipated sci-fi epic is The Wandering Earth, adapted from Hugo Award-winning writer Liu Cixin's 2008 novel of the same name. It's led by action star Wu Jing.