Nation's films rise as major force

In the mid-1990s, China introduced an annual quota system for imports of foreign films.

Cui Ting, a film industry observer based in Beijing, said that as a result, before the success of The Wandering Earth, few people believed that a Chinese sci-fi movie could be succeed in the home market, as the local industry lagged far behind Hollywood.

Enthusiastic filmgoers hailed The Wandering Earth as the start of "Year Zero" for Chinese sci-fi productions, a genre which had long struggled to earn recognition.

But a shadow was cast over their expectations when Shanghai Fortress — a sci-fi film in which Shanghai stands as the last hope of resisting an alien invasion — flopped disastrously in August.

Even with a stellar cast teaming up with heartthrob Lu Han and A-list actress Shu Qi, Shanghai Fortress, which reportedly had a budget up to 360 million yuan, took just 123 million yuan at the box office.

In addition, online criticism of its plotlines and special effects saw the film receive 2.9 points out of 10 on Douban, China's most popular review site.

Liu, the novelist, said during the 2019 Science Fiction Conference in Beijing in November: "We should not easily draw conclusions by saying that the door for Chinese sci-fi films to thrive has been opened by just one movie (The Wandering Earth). On the other hand, it's not fair to say that such a door has been closed by a single movie."

Liu said that Chinese sci-fi — including literature and movies — has only just taken off and needs to break free of "bottlenecks" in some aspects, ranging from scriptwriting prop-making.

Meanwhile, a group of talented directors have proved that real-life stories can inspire and spawn blockbusters.