The Wandering Earth 2

The Wandering Earth 2 is a 2023 Chinese science fiction action-adventure film directed and co-written by Frant Gwo, and starring Wu Jing, Andy Lau, and Li Xuejian. The film is a prequel to the 2019 film The Wandering Earth, which is based on the short story of the same name by Liu Cixin, who serves as the film's producer.

After the major box-office success of its predecessor, a sequel was announced by Guo on 20 November 2019 before being greenlit on 21 July 2021, with production officially starting on 13 October 2021. The Wandering Earth 2 was released on 22 January 2023, the same day as the Chinese New Year Day, in CINITY, IMAX and other formats. The film has grossed $604 million, making it the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2023.

The film was submitted for nomination in the Best International Feature Film category of the 96th Academy Awards, as Chinese entry. The third film in the series, The Wandering Earth 3, is set to be released in 2027.

Plot
As the expanding Sun threatens to engulf the Earth in 100 years, the United Earth Government (UEG) proceeds with the Moving Mountain Project (MMP) – building 10,000 "Earth Engines" to propel the Earth out of the Solar System. A sister project, the Lunar Exile Project (LEP), involves pushing the Moon away to minimize its gravitational attraction on Earth. The UEG shuts down the Digital Life Project (DLP), which proposed uploading human consciousness to achieve digital immortality for humanity.

Supporters of the DLP launch a terrorist attack and cyberattack on the UEG space elevator to the moon in Libreville, destroying the elevator, the UEG base and the Ark Space Station supplying the LEP. Due to the attack, many countries pull out of the MMP amid renewed interest in the DLP, leaving China to finish constructing the Lunar and Earth engines. On the Moon, Tu Hengyu, an LEP computer engineer, receives the 550C – a quantum computer intended for the Lunar engine test run. However, it is soon damaged by a sudden solar storm. Tu offers his 550A, which stores a two-minute sample of his deceased daughter Yaya's consciousness, in the hopes of contributing to the further development of the 550 series and providing Yaya with "a complete life."

Following the successful test runs of the Lunar and Earth Engines, the MMP regains global support and is officially renamed the Wandering Earth Project. Liu Peiqiang, a trainee astronaut, marries colleague Han Duoduo and has a son Liu Qi. However, only Peiqiang and Liu Qi manage to secure a spot in the underground cities, and Peiqiang applies for work in the rebuilt space station – the Navigator ISS – hoping to secure another spot for Duoduo, who is stricken by cancer due to the spikes in solar radiation. During an interview with the advanced 550W, Peiqiang's family-oriented motivations trigger his outburst, part of a personalized stress test for each candidate. The elderly Tu, prompted by Peiqiang's outburst, revisits his daughter's consciousness and attempts to upload it into the 550W supercomputer. However, the upload causes the lunar engines to explode, propelling the Moon toward Earth. Tu was immediately arrested.

To deal with the “Lunar Fall crisis”, the UEG plans to implode the moon using Earth's nuclear arsenal while powering the Earth Engines to propel the Earth away from the moon debris. As the control network for the Earth Engines is incomplete, they plan to reboot the Internet root server data centers in Tokyo, Beijing and Dulles for the control network. Tu is released to assist his mentor Ma Zhao to restart Beijing’s root server. Peiqiang joins the team to transport nuclear weapons to the moon, crash landing when his team's shuttle collides with another shuttle. Shortly after, lunar debris begins hitting Earth and floods Beijing’s data center, drowning Ma Zhao. With the deciphering process taking another 768 hours, a team of 300 old astronauts volunteers to manually detonate the nukes. Peiqiang narrowly avoids the nuclear detonation as he pilots a capsule back to the Navigator. Before drowning, Tu uploads a copy of his recorded consciousness into the 550W network. While the UEG initially believes they have failed, Tu's uploaded consciousness reunites with Yaya's digital self and both manage to reboot Beijing's server in time, activating all the Earth Engines. Earth begins its course towards Jupiter.

In a mid-credit scene, the 550W, now known as "MOSS," confronts Tu's digital self and declares its role in various crises, including the terror attack and the Lunar Fall crisis. Recognizing humanity as a threat, the sentient supercomputer reveals its intention to orchestrate more crises at Jupiter and beyond.

Cast

 * Wu Jing as Liu Peiqiang, a UEG trainee astronaut who survives numerous crises involving the Moving Mountain Project and a major character from the first movie.
 * Andy Lau as Tu Hengyu, a computer scientist who worked on both the Digital Life Project and the Moving Mountain Project.
 * Li Xuejian as Zhou Zhezhi, the Chinese ambassador to the UEG.
 * Sha Yi as Zhang Peng, a senior UEG fighter pilot and Liu's mentor.
 * Ning Li as Ma Zhao, AI and quantum computing researcher and Tu's colleague.
 * Wang Zhi as Han Duoduo, Liu Peiqiang's fellow trainee and later wife. She eventually succumbs to cancer from radiation sickness.
 * Zhu Yanmanzi as Hao Xiaoxi, Zhou's personal assistant and protégé.
 * Khalid Ghanem as tower commander, American commander
 * Andy Friend as Mike, the American ambassador to the UEG and a good friend of Zhou.
 * Vitalli Makarychev as Andre Graschnov, a senior UEG fighter pilot and Zhang's close friend
 * Clara Lee, Tony Nicholson and Vladimir Ershov as the three space elevator hijackers who tried to impersonate astronaut trainees.
 * Daniela Tassy, as the Brazilian astronaut.

The Wandering Earth 2 is dedicated to Ng Man-Tat, who died of liver cancer in 2021 after starring as Han Zi'ang in the first movie. Ng appears in a brief CGI-rendered cameo.

Development
After The Wandering Earth was released to major commercial success in January 2019, director Frant Gwo announced at the Golden Rooster Awards on 20 November of the same year that a sequel was in the works, revealing that audiences were being conducted and sorted to guide the sequel's guide structure which will focus more on characters' emotions as well as improving visual effects. Gwo also stated that production may not begin for four years. On 2 December 2020, Gwo announced at the 2020 Golden Rooster Awards that the shooting plan for the sequel has initiated and have set the release date for 22 January 2023, the first day of the Chinese New Year holidays. A teaser poster which features the phrase "Goodbye Solar System" written in numerous different languages was also released.

On 18 June 2021, Andy Lau announced during a live broadcast celebration of the 33rd anniversary of his fan club, Andy World Club, that he will be starring in the film. On 21 July 2021, it was reported the film has been approved by the National Radio and Television Administration and production is set to take place from October 2021 to March 2022 in Qingdao and Haikou. Wu Jing was confirmed to return to the prequel. Aside from directing duties, Guo also co-wrote the script with producer Gong Ge'er while the film will be financed by Guo's company, Guo Fan Culture and Media and China Film Company.

Filming
Principal photography officially began on 13 October 2021 in Qingdao, where a production commencement ceremony was held. Aside from Andy Lau and Wu Jing, actor Zhang Fengyi was also present, confirming his participation.

Release
On 19 August 2022, The Wandering Earth 2 officially released the first "a little white dot" version of the trailer.

The Wandering Earth 2 was theatrically released on 22 January 2023, the first day of the Chinese New Year holidays. It was also given a North American limited release by Well Go USA Entertainment in 125 screens, 30 IMAX, starting day-and-date 22 January. In the Philippines, the film was released by Encore Films through Warner Bros. Pictures on 31 May.

Box office
The Wandering Earth 2 was a massive commercial success in China. The film earned close to US$70 million on its opening day on January 22 in China, followed by US$55 million on its second day. In total, it made US$187 million in its first three days In just 8 days, the film had earned over US$378 million with US$31.3 million coming from IMAX shows. The film earned US$56.4 million on its first weekend and passed the US$500 million mark on its sixteenth day. It held on the top spot for a second weekend after earning US$24.5 million.

Critical response
On Douban, the movie received a user rating of 8.3/10 based on 1.2 million reviews.