China’s blockbuster The Wandering Earth is rich, gorgeous, and goofy
We’re living through a fascinating era of rapid change for the blockbuster movie model. America producers, eager to get their $200 million movies into the lucrative Chinese market, are increasingly looking for Chinese production partners, shooting in Chinese locations, and adding China-friendly characters and plotlines to American movies, even including extra scenes just for the Chinese cuts of films. But simultaneously, China and other countries are moving toward the blockbuster model themselves, creating homegrown films that don’t need to involve American partners at all.
And just as American films attempt to find paydays in foreign markets, foreign blockbusters are coming to America. The Wandering Earth, described as China’s first...