Director Frant Gwo's Chinese sci-fi epic THE WANDERING EARTH is currently playing in very limited release in North America, so there's a chance some of us might have overlooked the film entirely, completely unaware that it is actually a box office juggernaut. Since opening in China earlier this month, it has already become the second highest grossing film of all time in its native country and has already taken in over $600 million on a budget of around $50 million.
Based on a novella by Liu Cixin, THE WANDERING EARTH tells the following story:
The sun was dying out, people all around the world built giant planet thrusters to move Earth out of its orbit and to sail Earth to a new star system. Yet the 2500 years journey came with unexpected dangers, and in order to save humanity, a group of young people in this age of a wandering Earth came out boldly and fought hard for everyone's survival.
The film stars Wu Jing, Qu Chuxiao, Li Guangjie, Ng Man-tat, Zhao Jinmai, and Qu Jingjing.
A collection of trailers for THE WANDERING EARTH can be seen below, and they're packed with some pretty spectacular visuals. It's surprising that the budget was only in the $50 million range.
In addition to China and North America, THE WANDERING EARTH has also been released in Australia and New Zealand.