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Movies & TV

22nd Feb 2019

The biggest movie of 2019 so far is coming directly to Netflix

Rory Cashin

the wandering earth

It will unfortunately be bypassing Irish cinemas entirely.

Only a few days ago, we discussed The Wandering Earth, 2019’s biggest box office hit at the time of writing.

Currently, Glass is considered the year’s biggest hit to date, with a worldwide box office of just over $230 million. However, The Wandering Earth, which has been in cinemas for far less time, has already made over $600 million, but because it is a Chinese language movie, the worldwide box office will be paltry compared to how much it will eventually make in China alone.

Aside from Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: Episode IX, it could wind up with the third-highest box office haul come the end of the year.

Netflix are currently streaming worldwide, except in China, where local regulations have essentially barred it from operating there, so they have bought the global streaming rights to the movie, as part of an increased number of Mandarin-language content through upcoming production of original series, as well as through product acquisitions.

Jerry Zhang, Netflix’s manager of content acquisition, said: “With its high-quality production and story-telling, we believe that The Wandering Earth will be loved by sci-fi fans around the world.”

There is no set release date for The Wandering Earth on Netflix yet, but we imagine it won’t be until it has completed its run in cinemas in China.

Check out the trailer below:

Clip via Gavin Feng