LOS ANGELES, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Three Chinese blockbusters will be released in the United States on Tuesday, the Chinese Lunar New Year's Day.
Live action-animation film "Peppa Pig Celebrates Chinese New Year," produced by China's Alibaba Pictures and Canadian media company Entertainment One, will be distributed by U.S. company STX Entertainment in select theaters in 32 cities across the United States on Tuesday, the first day of the Year of the Pig in China.
Based on the British cartoon character Peppa Pig, the feature film is directed by Zhang Dapeng, Mark Baker, Neville Astley, Joris van Hulzen and Sarah Roper and stars Zhu Yawen, Liu Yun and Gua Ah-leh, among others. The plot follows a Chinese family of three generations that reunites to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
A promotional trailer for the film titled "What is Peppa?" became a sensation in China in January. The video racked up more than 300 million views across various streaming platforms and a topic on the video has drawn 1.6 billion views on micro-blogging site Weibo in less than half a month since it was released online.
"It's an honor for us to team up with STX to release the film in the United States, attracting American moviegoers and overseas Chinese audience to celebrate the Spring Festival in theaters," Zhang Wei, president of Alibaba Pictures, told Chinese-language media in a news briefing in Los Angeles last week, adding that the company hopes to carry forward some traditions of Chinese culture through the film.
Another Chinese New Year tent-pole, "The Wandering Earth," is set for release by China Media Capital (CMC) in the United States in 29 cities across the country on Tuesday. The film is considered the first major homemade sci-fi blockbuster of China.
The film, adapted from Hugo Award winner Liu Cixin's novel of the same name, tells a story of how humans, threatened by a dying and swelling sun, erect gigantic engines to propel the planet out of the solar system, setting it on a centuries-long journey in search of a new sun. In the film, a Chinese astronaut working in an international space station joins hands with his son to save the Earth.
"The Wandering Earth" is directed by Frant Gwo and stars famed action actor Wu Jing, the director and leading actor of 2017's military action film "Wolf Warrior 2."
Chinese car race film "Pegasus" will also be released in 19 cities in the United States by CMC on Tuesday.
Directed by Chinese best-selling author and professional rally driver Han Han and starring Chinese comedy actor Shen Teng, the comedy tells the story of a former champion race-car driver-turned-fried rice stall manager who decides to return to the track and challenge a new generation of drivers.
All three Chinese-language films will be released in the United States with English subtitles, targeting cities with a large overseas Chinese population such as Los Angeles and New York.
