Out of this world

Black comedy meets sci-fi in Ning Hao's new film, Crazy Alien, which will be released during Spring Festival, Xu Fan reports. 

From Crazy Stone to No Man's Land to Dying to Survive, most of the films Ning Hao has directed or produced use black comedy to examine social issues.

So, many people were surprised when the 42-year-old director recently revealed he has been a sci-fi fan since he was young.

Sci-fi content carried by once-popular productions like the Kunming-based comic magazine, Aomi ("profound mysteries"), and the 1980s animated series, The Transformers, opened his eyes and made him curious about "other worlds", he said at a recent news conference.

His sci-fi film, Crazy Alien, will open across the Chinese mainland in less than two weeks. It'll be his first time contending for a top spot during the lucrative Spring Festival holiday. It'll face 11 rivals during the period, starting on Feb 5, the first day of the Year of the Pig.

The seven films Ning has made during the past decade have grossed nearly 2 billion yuan ($295 million).