A forthcoming encounter of Battling Alita with Wandering Earth

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It is time for CGTN's China's Weekly Box Office Hits, and the award for this week goes to...

"The Wandering Earth" – again. The Chinese sci-fi blockbuster continued to top the domestic box office over the past week, successfully breaking several records.

A fortnight after it premiered, the film has raked in 3.86 billion yuan (570 million U.S. dollars), amassing the second highest ever earnings at the Chinese box office, after "Wolf Warriors 2."

It also topped all Chinese movies shown in North America with a box office of 3.82 million U.S. dollars.

A poster of "The Wandering Earth". /Photo via Douban.com

According to Maoyan, China's largest online movie ticketing platform, the country's total box office for February has already reached 9.25 billion yuan (1.37 billion U.S. dollars), some 895 million yuan (132 million U.S. dollars) away from breaking the single-month box office record set over the same period last year.

There is no doubt that the record would be reset later this week.

Coming in second place is another film based on a novel Liu Cixin, who is the brain behind "The Wandering Earth."

"Crazy Alien" is directed by Ning Hao, who is renowned for his dark comedy and depiction of the "nobody" characters. The film starring Huang Bo and Shen Teng has already garnered 2.01 billion yuan (300 million U.S. dollars).

A poster of "Crazy Alien". /VCG Photo

However, the film attracted controversy even before it hit the big screen.

Some complained about its farcical nature, which strays away from the original script, and argued it ruins the essence of the novel. Others took issue with possible "animal abuse" depicted in the movie.

Others defended it, saying that Ning excelled in telling an absurd story.

"The most absurd thing is that absurd comedy is being criticized for being absurd," a Douban user wrote. The film received only 6.4 out of 10 points on the review-aggregation website.

"Pegasus," also starring Shen Teng, comes in the third place, with 1.51 billion yuan (220 million U.S. dollars) at the box office. The film received seven points on Douban. "Boonie Bears" follows with 653 million yuan (96.5 million U.S. dollars), albeit opening to a tepid reception and a torrent of criticism from the audience.

A poster of "Pegasus". /VCG Photo

"Fall in Love at First Kiss" ranked fifth with 132 million yuan (19.51 million U.S. dollars) in the first three days of its premiere. Adapted from the Japanese manga series "Playful Kiss," and despite a widely loved TV adaptation in 2005, the film failed to make a buzz of equal intensity.

Many fans of the manga and TV series have taken issue with the cast from the start, saying that the leading actors do not resemble the characters. And most have already had enough of on-screen adaptations of the original work.

Chinese moviegoers will be treated to a newcomer on Friday, as "Alita: Battle Angel" hits the screens across the country. Directed by Robert Rodriguez and produced by James Cameron, the movie is adapted from the manga series "Gunnm." It dominated the North American box office over the weekend with 56 million U.S. dollars, Variety has reported.

A still from "Alita: Battle Angel". /VCG Photo

As the first Hollywood film to hit the Chinese cinemas after the Spring Festival holiday, "Alita" could be a challenge to "The Wandering Earth" in the sci-fi universe.

After vanquishing all of its rivals in North America, will the cyborg girl maintain her force while encountering the Earth? And will "The Wandering Earth" reach the forecast five billion yuan (740 million U.S. dollars) at the global box office?

Only time will tell.

(Cover image by Li Jingjie)