Science fiction fans were delighted by the delicately made scale model of the "Red Coast Base", an iconic scene in the sci-fi movie The Three-Body Problem, at the 2015 Sci-Fi Carnival in Chengdu from Oct 17 to 18.

The movie, which is in the can, is adapted from the namesake novel by Liu Cixin, the first person from Asia to win the Hugo Award. Liu was also granted the 2015 Xingyun Award for Global Chinese Science Fiction at the carnival, a Chinese version of the Nebula Award in the United States.

He said the copyrights of sci-fi works are increasing in value. "The adaption rights to a good novel was worth about 30,000 yuan in the 1990s, 100,000 yuan at most. Now the number could be 1 million yuan ($157,200) or more."

As well as The Three-Body Problem, movie adaptations of some other works by Liu are also due to hit screens, including those of The Wandering Earth and Micro Era.

Many sci-fi movie releases were announced at the carnival, although the genre is traditionally a weak point in China's movie industry.

"I'd like to do something for Chinese sci-fi movies," said Kong Xiangzhao, investor in the movie The Three-Body Problem. "Whoever has sci-fi works and wants them to be adapted into movies, please e-mail me and I will surely read them all."

Many companies went to sci-fi writer He Xi after the release ceremony for his new book Doomsyear, asking for copyright licensing.

"Previously, few movie companies came to the Xingyun Awards, but this year the event attracted many sci-fi moviemakers," said Wu Yan, head of the sci-fi creative research center at Beijing Normal University.

Chang Hongsong, chairman of Beijing Phenom Films Co, was one of the moviemakers Wu talked about. "We receive post-production projects for 300 movies a year on average," he said. "There were no sci-fi movies before, but this year we already had 40 by August."

Ji Weiming, CEO of Shanghai Zhucan Culture Investment Co, said his company has five sci-fi movie projects in progress.

However, many people have concerns that poorly made movies with cheap special effects could ruin classic works.

Chang said, "The shortage of Chinese sci-fi movies is due to experience, not technology, and cheap special effects are the result of insufficient funds for technicians.

"What the Chinese sci-fi movie industry lacks most is directors and producers that really know about sci-fi," he said.

Sci-fi writer Xia Jia agreed. She told Sichuan Daily that literature and movies are "created in different languages".

Xu Weibing, brand marketing executive of DMG Entertainment who took part in the production of Hollywood blockbusters Iron Man 3 and Looper, said the Chinese movie business "lags far behind in industrialization", adding that it needs organized teams and mature models.

zhangzhao@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 10/21/2015 page16)