https://www.scmp.com/rss/502442/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com James Marsh James Marsh 3.5/5 stars After winning the Cristal for a Feature Film at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, French filmmaker Ugo Bienvenu’s directorial debut Arco went on to be nominated at every major awards ceremony this past season, only to be eclipsed by Netflix’s cultural juggernaut, KPop Demon Hunters. While the latter’s success is undeniable, Arco is more than worthy of recognition, emerging as a charming and delicately handled sci-fi fable with a powerful ecological message. In the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3349216/arco-movie-review-annecy-cristal-winner-peter-pan-esque-sci-fi-tale-our-times?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3349216/arco-movie-review-annecy-cristal-winner-peter-pan-esque-sci-fi-tale-our-times?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Apr 2026 13:15:07 +0000 Ishani Sarkar Ishani Sarkar Ryan Gosling’s highly anticipated science-fiction epic Project Hail Mary, based on Andy Weir’s novel of the same name, is a blockbuster hit. According to box-office revenue tracker Box Office Mojo, the film, which had a budget of US$200 million, opened to US$80.5 million domestically and has since grossed an impressive US$330 million worldwide. Gosling plays Ryland Grace, a science teacher tasked with saving the planet after he wakes up on a spaceship with no memory of how he got there. On his... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3348786/meet-james-ortiz-voice-rocky-alien-ryan-gosling-starrer-project-hail-mary?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3348786/meet-james-ortiz-voice-rocky-alien-ryan-gosling-starrer-project-hail-mary?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Apr 2026 12:00:08 +0000 Sylvia Ma Sylvia Ma China is seeing surging public interest in science fiction amid its push for technological development, with revenues reaching a record high and online search traffic more than tripling last year, according to a new report. China’s sci-fi industry saw its gross revenues reach 126.1 billion yuan (US$18.2 billion) in 2025, up 15.7 per cent year on year, according to an annual report released at the China Science Fiction Convention on Friday, as reported by Xinhua. The report also highlighted a... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3348421/chinas-sci-fi-industry-rides-tech-wave-revenues-hit-record-high?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3348421/chinas-sci-fi-industry-rides-tech-wave-revenues-hit-record-high?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2026 11:02:19 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram 2/5 stars Ryan Gosling flies almost entirely solo in Project Hail Mary, a disappointingly derivative sci-fi mash-up of Interstellar, The Martian and Tom Hanks’ desert island drama Cast Away. Gosling plays former teacher Ryland Grace, who wakes up on a spacecraft. Coming out of years of stasis, he is bleary-eyed and disoriented. With his two fellow crew members dead, he must figure out why he is on board. Gradually, flashbacks reveal the truth: the sun is being attacked by an organism and, within... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3345942/project-hail-mary-movie-review-ryan-gosling-stranded-disappointing-martian-clone?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3345942/project-hail-mary-movie-review-ryan-gosling-stranded-disappointing-martian-clone?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Mar 2026 13:00:09 +0000 Sylvie Zhuang Sylvie Zhuang Years before China’s DeepSeek stunned the world with its powerful open-source AI model, Chinese tech geeks began experimenting with the openness ethos through a collaboratively written open-source novel, still going strong after nearly two decades. With millions of words spanning nearly 3,000 chapters, The Morning Star of Linggao has been crowd-written by thousands of contributors – mostly tech geeks, engineers, military enthusiasts and STEM professionals – who insert themselves as characters in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3343906/why-open-source-sci-fi-novel-chinas-tech-geeks-going-strong-after-20-years?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3343906/why-open-source-sci-fi-novel-chinas-tech-geeks-going-strong-after-20-years?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Feb 2026 11:00:08 +0000 Liu Zhen,Zhao Ziwen Liu Zhen,Zhao Ziwen China’s Nantianmen Project – translated as Southern Celestial Gate – has captured widespread attention as a blend of science fiction storytelling and hi-tech military speculation. Launched in 2017 by a subsidiary of the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (Avic), the project originated as an aviation-themed sci-fi intellectual property (IP) rather than an active weapons development programme. At its core, the project serves as a creative vehicle to showcase more than 100... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3343433/everything-we-know-about-chinas-mysterious-futuristic-nantianmen-project?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3343433/everything-we-know-about-chinas-mysterious-futuristic-nantianmen-project?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Feb 2026 14:00:09 +0000 Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Former US president Barack Obama said in a podcast interview on the weekend that aliens are real, but they aren’t at Nevada’s Area 51. During an appearance on YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen’s show, Obama said he hadn’t seen extraterrestrials but that they existed. “They’re not being kept in Area 51, there’s no underground facility, unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States,” Obama said during a rapid-fire round of questions at the end of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3343697/are-aliens-real-obama-says-yes-rules-out-long-running-conspiracy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3343697/are-aliens-real-obama-says-yes-rules-out-long-running-conspiracy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Feb 2026 05:09:10 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh 3.5/5 stars A young woman is forced to live the last day of her life on repeat in the animated sci-fi thriller All You Need Is Kill, which is adapted from Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s 2004 light novel, best known as the inspiration for the Tom Cruise action film Edge of Tomorrow (2014). Marking the feature directing debut of Kenichiro Akimoto, All You Need Is Kill unfolds in the wake of an alien invasion. It follows a plucky heroine who must hone her combat skills and study the otherworldly aggressors... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3342213/all-you-need-kill-movie-review-japanese-novel-behind-edge-tomorrow-gets-animated?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3342213/all-you-need-kill-movie-review-japanese-novel-behind-edge-tomorrow-gets-animated?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Feb 2026 13:15:36 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis Hong Kong cinema has always prided itself on speed and adaptability, yet the industry has often been guilty of merely repackaging old formulas. However, the 1990s brought a wave of existential anxiety – both political and commercial – that forced filmmakers to take drastic risks. Below, we revisit two ambitious productions from the beginning of that decade and the turn of the next one that attempted to rewrite the rule book: one a dark fantasy reliant on extravagant home-grown special effects,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3341761/how-hong-kong-movies-wicked-city-and-2000-ad-rewrote-citys-cinema-rule-book?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3341761/how-hong-kong-movies-wicked-city-and-2000-ad-rewrote-citys-cinema-rule-book?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Feb 2026 09:15:07 +0000 Letters Letters Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words As the prospect of human settlement on Mars becomes increasingly concrete, the question facing humanity is no longer whether we can reach the red planet, but whether going there would actually save us. Mars colonisation has moved from science fiction to engineering road maps.... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/letters/article/3340930/moving-mars-first-bring-human-ego-under-control?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/letters/article/3340930/moving-mars-first-bring-human-ego-under-control?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Jan 2026 03:30:08 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram 3/5 stars Chris Pratt stars in this slice of AI hokum set in a near-future world where defendants face a virtual judge, jury and executioner, all rolled into one. Set in Los Angeles in 2029, the film follows Detective Chris Raven (Pratt), an early adopter of Mercy – a fully autonomous courtroom and the ultimate crime deterrent. However, he is the one facing the death penalty, after his wife was found murdered in their home, with just 90 minutes to clear his name before the chair he is strapped... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3340627/mercy-movie-review-chris-pratt-battles-virtual-judge-flawed-ai-courtroom-thriller?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3340627/mercy-movie-review-chris-pratt-battles-virtual-judge-flawed-ai-courtroom-thriller?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Jan 2026 17:00:11 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh Hong Kong movie star and producer Louis Koo Tin-lok is currently rewriting history – and box office records – with the time-travel adventure Back to the Past. Taking in over HK$60 million (US$7.7 million) since its New Year’s Eve debut, the film is a much-anticipated sequel to 2001’s A Step into the Past, a favourite television series from Hong Kong broadcaster TVB. It sends Koo’s security agent hurtling back to the Qin dynasty, reuniting him with many original cast members, including Raymond... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3339696/10-best-asian-time-travel-movies-watch-after-hong-kong-hit-back-past?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3339696/10-best-asian-time-travel-movies-watch-after-hong-kong-hit-back-past?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Jan 2026 11:15:07 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee 3/5 stars A film does not need to be a masterpiece to become a megahit, provided it strikes the perfect chord. Few contemporary Hong Kong releases prove this better than Back to the Past, a subpar historical sci-fi fantasy that is saved – and arguably even transcended – by the potent wave of nostalgia it inspires in its target audience. An effects-driven action adventure that picks up where the 2001 TVB drama series A Step into the Past left off, this long-gestating sequel co-directed by Ng... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3338164/back-past-movie-review-louis-koo-raymond-lam-lead-nostalgic-sequel-tvb-series?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3338164/back-past-movie-review-louis-koo-raymond-lam-lead-nostalgic-sequel-tvb-series?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Dec 2025 16:00:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A Hollywood director was convicted on Thursday on charges that he scammed Netflix out of US$11 million for a show that never materialised, while he instead used the cash for lavish purchases that included several Rolls-Royces, a Ferrari and about US$1 million in mattresses and luxury bedding. Carl Erik Rinsch, best known for directing the film 47 Ronin, was convicted of wire fraud, money laundering and other charges, according to court records and a spokesperson for federal prosecutors in New... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3336145/director-convicted-scamming-millions-netflix-unfinished-sci-fi-show?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3336145/director-convicted-scamming-millions-netflix-unfinished-sci-fi-show?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Dec 2025 02:44:41 +0000 Sylvie Zhuang Sylvie Zhuang Liu Cixin is the most influential contemporary science fiction writer in China. He is best known for his trilogy that starts with The Three-Body Problem, for which he won a Hugo Award for best novel in 2015. The trilogy earned international acclaim and has been adapted for television in both Chinese and English. Born in 1963 and raised in Shanxi, Liu started his working life as a computer engineer at a power plant in the central province. Inspired by British sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke, Liu... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3335978/why-sci-fis-liu-cixin-hopes-ai-surpasses-humanity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3335978/why-sci-fis-liu-cixin-hopes-ai-surpasses-humanity?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Dec 2025 02:00:09 +0000 Alex Lo Alex Lo Well, thank God we don’t live in a computer simulation after all. At least that’s according to a new paper by University of British Columbia physicist Mir Faizal and his team of international researchers, including cosmologist and science writer Lawrence Krauss. Or rather, there is no God to thank because if our universe is not a computer simulation, there is no supreme programmer in the first place. The team targets an influential simulation argument proposed by Swedish philosopher Nick... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3333895/simulation-hypothesis-really-proof-existence-god?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3333895/simulation-hypothesis-really-proof-existence-god?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Nov 2025 01:30:09 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg The end of the world is not usually so cheery. In Pluribus, the new Apple TV+ series from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, scientists encounter a mysterious repeating signal coming from outer space. That discovery leads researchers working for the United States military to encode a sort of virus that inevitably gets set loose and, after brief periods of mass seizures, leads to a psychic harmony among every human on Earth, who now operate as an “us”. The thing is, they are really very nice.... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3332737/pluribus-appletvs-dystopian-sci-fi-makes-end-world-look-happier-ever?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3332737/pluribus-appletvs-dystopian-sci-fi-makes-end-world-look-happier-ever?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Nov 2025 09:15:10 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Michael J. Fox has been living with Back to the Future for a long time. “I’ll be on the street and some kid will go, ‘There’s Marty McFly!’” Fox says. “No, this is an old man.” It has been 40 years since Back to the Future debuted in cinemas, but neither time nor Parkinson’s disease has done much – regardless of what he says – to diminish Fox’s boyish good nature. For Fox, travelling through time with Back to the Future has been part of life. It is the film that strapped a flux capacitor to his... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3330735/back-future-turns-40-michael-j-fox-time-travel-sci-fis-enduring-appeal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3330735/back-future-turns-40-michael-j-fox-time-travel-sci-fis-enduring-appeal?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Oct 2025 11:15:11 +0000 Matt Glasby Matt Glasby This is the latest instalment in our From the Vault feature series, in which we reflect on culturally significant movies celebrating notable anniversaries. One of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Kathryn Bigelow is known for the likes of Point Break, Zero Dark Thirty and this year’s awards-tipped A House of Dynamite. In 2010, she became the first woman to win the best director Oscar, for The Hurt Locker. But even great filmmakers stumble sometimes. Part sci-fi thriller, part... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3329049/why-kathryn-bigelows-strange-days-released-30-years-ago-was-way-ahead-its-time?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3329049/why-kathryn-bigelows-strange-days-released-30-years-ago-was-way-ahead-its-time?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Oct 2025 11:15:08 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram 3/5 stars Tron returns with a third instalment in a series that began in 1982 with a film that showcased then pioneering visual effects as a computer programmer was pulled into his own software. The belated 2010 sequel, Tron: Legacy, was something of a disappointment, despite featuring one of the great movie soundtracks of the 21st century by Daft Punk. Tron: Ares flips the original on its head. Instead of a programmer finding his way into “the grid” – the “digital frontier” inside his software... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3328077/tron-ares-movie-review-jared-leto-plays-ai-soldier-third-entry-sci-fi-franchise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3328077/tron-ares-movie-review-jared-leto-plays-ai-soldier-third-entry-sci-fi-franchise?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Oct 2025 16:00:11 +0000 Sylvie Zhuang Sylvie Zhuang Speculative fiction, which encompasses sci-fi and other futuristic literature, is emerging as a strong vehicle for China to project soft power in a competition with the United States over the imagined future. The genre may help China and the Global South challenge Western views of colonialism, capitalism and future tech, according to Chinese scholars of literature and culture. “Speculative fiction, as a genre that imagines the future while critiquing the present, has long been dominated by... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3327833/china-stakes-claim-future-soft-power-sci-fi-and-speculative-fiction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3327833/china-stakes-claim-future-soft-power-sci-fi-and-speculative-fiction?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Oct 2025 11:00:08 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee 1.5/5 stars A high-concept fantasy romance set in a human world that has been physically split into two, Measure in Love asks its audience to succumb to the supposedly poetic swooning of its star-crossed lovers – only to make it a very tall order indeed with a criminally underdeveloped set-up and an unfathomably illogical plot. Marking the feature debut of experienced Hong Kong assistant director Benny Kung Siu-ping, this dystopian fairy tale co-scripted by Kung, producer Sylvia Chang Ai-chia... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3327490/measure-love-movie-review-angela-yuen-and-greg-hsu-thoroughly-baffling-fantasy-romance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3327490/measure-love-movie-review-angela-yuen-and-greg-hsu-thoroughly-baffling-fantasy-romance?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Oct 2025 07:28:07 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh 2/5 stars Drowning in ambition but narratively adrift, Kim Byung-woo’s latest high-concept blockbuster opens with an apartment complex being consumed by a giant tsunami before morphing into a science-fiction thriller that defies simple explanation. Kim’s filmography boasts a string of audacious genre-bending experiments, from The Terror Live to Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy. The Great Flood, which premiered last week at the 30th Busan International Film Festival, is an action-packed puzzle box... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-movies/article/3326331/busan-2025-great-flood-movie-review-kim-da-mi-cant-save-puzzling-netflix-fantasy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-movies/article/3326331/busan-2025-great-flood-movie-review-kim-da-mi-cant-save-puzzling-netflix-fantasy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Sep 2025 08:15:08 +0000 Andrew Sheng Andrew Sheng Several Asian economies are anxiously assessing how to compete for trade with the United States after missing the August 1 deadline for the Trump administration’s tariff negotiations. The tariff rate for exports from the Philippines to the US is reportedly down to 19 per cent. However, one Filipino lawmaker says it’s effectively 6 per cent. The rate for Indonesia is now 19 per cent and for Vietnam 20 per cent. Hours before the deadline, Malaysian and Thai leaders seemed to be on the cusp of... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3320432/world-disrupted-maga-economics-all-bets-are?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3320432/world-disrupted-maga-economics-all-bets-are?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Aug 2025 13:12:06 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh 2/5 stars Based on a hit Korean webtoon, director Kim Byung-woo’s ambitious science fiction fantasy Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy stars Ahn Hyo-seop as a reclusive loner who discovers that his favourite online novel has become a reality. Lee Min-ho and Chae Soo-bin also appear, as do K-pop starlets Nana and Blackpink’s Jisoo, but they all take a back seat to the film’s polished, if generic, spectacle. It is impossible to conceive that a feature film like this would exist without the success of... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-movies/article/3319292/omniscient-reader-prophecy-movie-review-korean-fantasy-glossy-uninspired?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-movies/article/3319292/omniscient-reader-prophecy-movie-review-korean-fantasy-glossy-uninspired?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Jul 2025 11:45:09 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh 2/5 stars Anime compilation films are far from a new phenomenon. Since the 1970s, feature-length re-edits of animated television series have been a mainstay in Japanese cinemas. Offering diehard fans the opportunity of a big-screen refresher, while giving franchise newcomers a crash course that is all killer no filler, every self-respecting series from Space Battleship Yamato to Mobile Suit Gundam has swung for a splashy theatrical cash grab. Recently, Demon Slayer and Attack on Titan both... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310117/kaiju-no-8-mission-recon-movie-review-sci-fi-anime-compilation-not-par?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310117/kaiju-no-8-mission-recon-movie-review-sci-fi-anime-compilation-not-par?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 May 2025 10:15:07 +0000 When Alida Guo first discovered Liu Cixin’s groundbreaking sci-fi novel The Three-Body Problem in high school, she was captivated. The plot proved so irresistible that she hid a copy behind her history textbooks, turning classes into covert missions to decode the “Trisolaran crisis” – named after the fictional alien civilisation that threatens Earth. “The physics element went over my head, but the story stuck with me – it’s so Chinese that it resonates, yet so visionary that it challenges how we... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3306183/chinas-sci-fi-industry-shoots-stars-beijing-pushes-quality-growth?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3306183/chinas-sci-fi-industry-shoots-stars-beijing-pushes-quality-growth?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Apr 2025 09:00:08 +0000 Plenty of sheer and metallic fabrics, “alien” accessories, hole-punched garments: with its spring/summer 2025 collection, Prada clearly wants to beam us all into a future pulsing with possibility. At the collection’s launch during Milan Fashion Week in September, the brand took a ride in its time machine and came back with inspiration in a mix of sturdy staples – heavy woollens and distressed leather – and pieces shimmering with a retro-futuristic feel. Belts rematerialise atop bags, sunnies... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/fashion/article/3301302/style-shoot-pradas-spring/summer-2025-collection-unveiled-milan-fashion-week-last-september-plays?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/fashion/article/3301302/style-shoot-pradas-spring/summer-2025-collection-unveiled-milan-fashion-week-last-september-plays?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Mar 2025 02:00:15 +0000 This article contains major spoilers. 1/5 stars Lead cast: Lee Min-ho, Gong Hyo-jin, Oh Jung-se, Han Ji-eun Latest Nielsen rating: 2.55 per cent One of the elements that viewers tend to like about modern Korean dramas is that, despite being the product of a society that remains staunchly patriarchal, these stories often portray strong women who excel in a variety of impressive fields. Romance inevitably rears its head to briefly scupper their professional lives, but they are still held up as... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-drama/article/3299890/netflix-k-drama-when-stars-gossip-review-space-pregnancy-nonsense-sinks-sci-fi-romcom?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-drama/article/3299890/netflix-k-drama-when-stars-gossip-review-space-pregnancy-nonsense-sinks-sci-fi-romcom?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Feb 2025 11:37:06 +0000 4/5 stars Korean master Bong Joon-ho is back with his first film since 2019’s Cannes- and Oscar-winning Parasite. Six years is a long time, but the director has not lost any of his storytelling sensibilities when it comes to unpacking Edward Ashton’s cult novel Mickey7. A science fiction parable, one that fits neatly alongside Bong’s earlier works Snowpiercer (2013) and Okja (2017), Mickey 17 is a darkly funny look at humankind’s desire to conquer at any cost. Set in 2054, the film stars... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-movies/article/3298927/berlin-2025-mickey-17-movie-review-parasites-bong-joon-ho-back-wild-sci-fi-satire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-movies/article/3298927/berlin-2025-mickey-17-movie-review-parasites-bong-joon-ho-back-wild-sci-fi-satire?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Feb 2025 00:29:55 +0000 This article contains spoilers. Lead cast: Lee Min-ho, Gong Hyo-jin Latest Nielsen rating: 2.7 per cent What happens when you mix K-drama, sci-fi and 50 billion won (US$34 million)? Cheating astronauts, zero-gravity sex and a coveted winning lottery ticket, apparently. There was no question of When the Stars Gossip ever being serious sci-fi. This is a high-concept K-drama with Lee Min-ho (Pachinko) and Gong Hyo-jin (When the Camellia Blooms) from romcom specialist Shin Sook-hyang (Pasta, Don’t... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-drama/article/3297179/netflix-k-drama-when-stars-gossip-midseason-recap-giant-leap-back-korean-sci-fi?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-drama/article/3297179/netflix-k-drama-when-stars-gossip-midseason-recap-giant-leap-back-korean-sci-fi?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Feb 2025 11:45:07 +0000 A lot has changed for Michelle Yeoh since she first walked onto our screens as Captain Philippa Georgiou in the Star Trek: Discovery television series seven years ago. Already a star, her Oscar win for Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) catapulted her to even greater heights in Hollywood. After dazzling audiences in the big-screen adaptation of the musical Wicked, Yeoh is donning her Starfleet boots once again in Star Trek: Section 31, reprising her role as the complex Philippa Georgiou we... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3296121/michelle-yeoh-back-star-trek-section-31-says-star-trek-will-always-be-part-me?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3296121/michelle-yeoh-back-star-trek-section-31-says-star-trek-will-always-be-part-me?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Jan 2025 07:45:09 +0000 Lead cast: Lee Min-ho, Gong Hyo-jin, Oh Jung-se, Han Ji-eun Latest Nielsen rating: 3.9 per cent “Only two things are infinite – the universe and human stupidity.” Given Korean sci-fi’s spotty track record, the above quote – one of several that appear at the beginning of the new series When the Stars Gossip – seems a bold way to open a mega-budget K-drama romcom set on a space station. What would Albert Einstein, to whom this quote is generally attributed, make of this series, in which a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-pop/k-drama/article/3293774/lee-min-ho-gong-hyo-jin-lead-netflix-k-drama-when-stars-gossip-space-station-romcom?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-pop/k-drama/article/3293774/lee-min-ho-gong-hyo-jin-lead-netflix-k-drama-when-stars-gossip-space-station-romcom?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Jan 2025 11:45:08 +0000 The hardest movie ticket to get in North America last weekend was for a film audiences have been able to watch at home for years: Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. The science fiction epic starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway earned US$4.5 million from only 166 screens in the US and Canada. Its 70mm IMAX film presentations sold out in minutes, leaving cinemas scrambling to add more and people paying up to US$300 on the re-sale market. Ten years after Interstellar was given a film... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3290265/interstellars-10th-anniversary-imax-re-release-really-thrilling-says-christopher-nolan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3290265/interstellars-10th-anniversary-imax-re-release-really-thrilling-says-christopher-nolan?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Dec 2024 07:15:08 +0000 Alien star Sigourney Weaver dislikes seeing “scary films” and tries to avoid them, she said in a television interview. Weaver, 75, who shot to fame playing Ellen Ripley in the 1979 space sci-fi film and three follow-ups, made the surprise comment during a late-night BBC talk show. “I hate watching scary films. I don’t mind acting in them, but I don’t want to see them,” she told the show’s host Graham Norton. She appeared alongside English actor Nicholas Hoult, who stars in Nosferatu, a new... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3289802/alien-star-weaver-hates-watching-scary-movies-she-says-ahead-her-london-stage-debut?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3289802/alien-star-weaver-hates-watching-scary-movies-she-says-ahead-her-london-stage-debut?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Dec 2024 06:45:08 +0000 British actor Benedict Wong has gone from starring in Asian-centric roles to taking on characters that transcend cultures and race. While the actor has been honing his craft for decades, he’s perhaps best known for his role as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Sorcerer Supreme – an essential character in the Doctor Strange saga. More recently, Wong starred in the Netflix sci-fi hit 3 Body Problem in a role central to the plot. In the series, adapted from a Chinese novel by Liu Cixin, Wong plays... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3284255/meet-benedict-wong-how-3-body-problem-actor-launched-himself-out-his-familys-takeaway-restaurant-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3284255/meet-benedict-wong-how-3-body-problem-actor-launched-himself-out-his-familys-takeaway-restaurant-and?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Oct 2024 08:00:08 +0000 2/5 stars The on-screen coupling of Freen Sarocha Chankimha and Rebecca Patricia Armstrong, known collectively as “FreenBecky” to their legions of adoring fans, transitions to the big screen in Uranus 2324, a sprawling sci-fi romance charting the love affair between two young women across the endless expanses of space and time. The film is the latest offering in Thailand’s booming GL, or “girls’ love”, genre of romantic fiction foregrounding same-sex female protagonists, while also laying claim... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3283320/uranus-2324-movie-review-lgbtq-stars-freenbecky-thai-sci-fi-girls-love-film?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3283320/uranus-2324-movie-review-lgbtq-stars-freenbecky-thai-sci-fi-girls-love-film?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Oct 2024 10:15:07 +0000 Tesla’s Robovan may operate autonomously, but according to one sci-fi director, Elon Musk does not. Last week Musk presented Tesla’s latest prototypes for its autonomous electric bus, the self-driving Cybercab and robotic humanoid Optimus, aka Tesla bot. But the executive’s purported state-of-the-art designs bear a striking resemblance to those from a sci-fi film released two decades ago. I, Robot director Alex Proyas mocked Musk for the alleged rip-off in a post on Musk-owned X, comparing... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/gadgets/article/3282553/how-elon-musks-tesla-prototypes-were-lifted-hollywood-sci-fi?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/gadgets/article/3282553/how-elon-musks-tesla-prototypes-were-lifted-hollywood-sci-fi?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Oct 2024 05:46:06 +0000 Indonesian film director Joko Anwar is fresh from the success of his new Netflix sci-fi series, Nightmares and Daydreams, a romp through local social issues set against a backdrop of brain-sucking monsters, possessed fiction writers, guardian angels and alien children. The series is just one in a long line of Indonesian films and series dominating the streaming service this year, hailing a new era of Indonesian cinema. “We have been quite overwhelmed by the response,” says Joko via phone from... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/film-tv/article/3276039/could-nightmares-and-daydreams-be-indonesian-black-mirror-netflix-going-big-southeast-asian-content?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/film-tv/article/3276039/could-nightmares-and-daydreams-be-indonesian-black-mirror-netflix-going-big-southeast-asian-content?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Aug 2024 21:45:09 +0000 After several pointless prequels and spluttering spin-offs, the Alien series is back with a bang with Alien: Romulus. Technically, the new film is an interquel, arriving between the events of Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986) – two of the greatest sci-fi films ever made. It further fleshes out the machinations of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation as this faceless, ruthless company deals with the discovery of a xenomorph that was blasted out of an airlock by warrant officer Ellen Ripley in the original... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3274410/ranking-every-alien-film-worst-best-including-new-movie-alien-romulus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3274410/ranking-every-alien-film-worst-best-including-new-movie-alien-romulus?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Aug 2024 19:00:13 +0000 3/5 stars The second half of Tomoyuki Kurokawa’s sprawling science fiction extravaganza – which sees life go on in Tokyo despite the alien spacecraft that have hovered over the Japanese city for years – dives right back into the action at the exact cliffhanger moment that closed out Part 1. A military strike on one of the smaller spaceships triggers a multitude of diminutive extraterrestrials to literally rain down upon the city. As they scatter to its four corners, we are warned that this point... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3271518/dead-dead-demons-dededede-destruction-part-2-movie-review-sci-fi-anime-ends-chaos?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3271518/dead-dead-demons-dededede-destruction-part-2-movie-review-sci-fi-anime-ends-chaos?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Jul 2024 03:15:11 +0000 4/5 stars For a tight-knit group of hormonally charged high-school girls, there are far more pressing matters than invading aliens in Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction. Adapted from a manga series by Inio Asano, this two-part anime epic unfolds in the shadow of a giant spacecraft, which appeared over Tokyo three years earlier. Since that day, the aliens’ presence has triggered action from the government, polarising political activism and violence and destruction, resulting in a volatile... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3269903/dead-dead-demons-dededede-destruction-part-1-movie-review-anime-mixes-teen-drama-aliens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3269903/dead-dead-demons-dededede-destruction-part-1-movie-review-anime-mixes-teen-drama-aliens?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Jul 2024 09:20:43 +0000 It’s not quite a galaxy far, far away, but about 20 people gather at dusk in a park in southern Mexico to practice fencing with glowing lightsabers – a sport inspired by the Star Wars franchise. Lightsaber duelling has grown in popularity in recent years, and France’s fencing federation now recognises it as an official sport, holding national championships. In Mexico, the Jedi Knight Academy teaches fencing “with lightsabers in the style of the Jedi teachings”, referring to the fictional... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3269831/mexicans-embrace-force-lightsaber-training-inspired-star-wars?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3269831/mexicans-embrace-force-lightsaber-training-inspired-star-wars?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Jul 2024 20:34:01 +0000 When newly appointed Penguin China general manager Jo Lusby hosted her international bosses in Beijing for the first time, in 2005, she suggested the publishing executives meet the author of a then-bestselling book, Wolf Totem. On the face of it, a Chinese-language novel about wolves and shepherds written by a pseudonymous Beijing intellectual seemed unlikely to captivate an international audience. But the writer, Jiang Rong, charmed the executives with his atmospheric descriptions, based... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3268250/early-coup-peppa-pig-michelle-obama-and-harry-potter-ex-penguin-china-chief?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3268250/early-coup-peppa-pig-michelle-obama-and-harry-potter-ex-penguin-china-chief?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Jun 2024 23:45:08 +0000 Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification The Doraemon drone show last month and the coming major exhibition featuring 135 large-scale models of the beloved character are bringing back our fond memories of this acclaimed manga series. Many... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/letters/article/3265721/what-doraemon-can-teach-us-about-promoting-stem-education?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/letters/article/3265721/what-doraemon-can-teach-us-about-promoting-stem-education?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Jun 2024 03:30:10 +0000 Next week, Australian filmmaker George Miller whisks audiences back to his signature desert hellscape with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Chris Hemsworth and Anya Taylor-Joy star in this prequel to 2015’s multi-award-winning Mad Max: Fury Road, and the fifth film in the franchise overall, laying out the origin story of the one-armed warrior previously played by Charlize Theron. Since the first Mad Max film back in 1979, Miller’s dust-choked, gas-starved vision of the future has inspired generations of... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/film-tv/article/3262952/cant-wait-furiosa-mad-max-saga-five-post-apocalyptic-movies-asia-watch-akira-snowpiercer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/film-tv/article/3262952/cant-wait-furiosa-mad-max-saga-five-post-apocalyptic-movies-asia-watch-akira-snowpiercer?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 May 2024 11:00:31 +0000 China’s US$15 billion sci-fi industry, which has gained global attention after the success of the Netflix show 3 Body Problem, offers a potential boost to the economy while aligning with Beijing’s aspirations to become a tech powerhouse, analysts said, underscoring the need for stronger government backing to fortify the sector. The industry achieved 113.29 billion yuan (US$15.6 billion) in total revenue last year, representing a 29 per cent year on year increase according to the 2024 China... https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3261367/china-wants-sci-fi-industry-led-megahit-3-body-problem-help-tech-make-jump-lightspeed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3261367/china-wants-sci-fi-industry-led-megahit-3-body-problem-help-tech-make-jump-lightspeed?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 May 2024 11:30:08 +0000 Last weekend, I watched all eight episodes of 3 Body Problem, a Netflix adaptation of the bestselling Chinese science-fiction novel San Ti (2008), by Liu Cixin. Ken Liu’s English translation, The Three-Body Problem (2014), was the first novel by an Asian author to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel, in 2015, which celebrates the best science fiction and fantasy works. The main conceit of 3 Body Problem – spoilers ahead! – is the impending arrival of a race of aliens that was contacted by Dr Ye... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3260358/how-3-body-problem-recalls-one-chinese-historys-worst-traitors-who-has-been-vilified-nearly-400?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3260358/how-3-body-problem-recalls-one-chinese-historys-worst-traitors-who-has-been-vilified-nearly-400?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Apr 2024 23:45:10 +0000 Lead cast: Ju Ji-hoon, Han Hyo-joo Disney+ action-sci-fi Blood Free is the latest Korean series to dip its toes into dystopia. Leading the show is Moving star Han Hyo-joo as the entrepreneur behind a cultured meat corporation that revolutionises global food production, and Ju Ji-hoon (Kingdom) as her tough-as-nails bodyguard. The series opens with a product launch presentation put on by Blood Free, a corporation that has successfully developed a lab-cultured meat product that does not require... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-pop/k-drama/article/3259012/disney-k-drama-blood-free-ju-ji-hoon-han-hyo-joo-lead-sci-fi-series-looks-its-dumping-its-big-ideas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-pop/k-drama/article/3259012/disney-k-drama-blood-free-ju-ji-hoon-han-hyo-joo-lead-sci-fi-series-looks-its-dumping-its-big-ideas?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Apr 2024 05:18:21 +0000 Mexican actress Eiza González is a veteran telenovela actress recognised in Hollywood for portraying the femme fatale in shows like From Dusk till Dawn: The Series and the 2017 movie Baby Driver. But her most recent role in Netflix’s hit new sci-fi series 3 Body Problem may be the one that cements her as an internationally recognised star. Netflix’s eight-part adaptation on Liu Cixin’s wildly popular sci-fi novel The Three-Body Problem has been ruling Netflix ratings since its March 21 release,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3257551/eiza-gonzalez-3-body-problem-star-too-pretty-hollywood-mexican-actress-dated-timothee-chalamet-was?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3257551/eiza-gonzalez-3-body-problem-star-too-pretty-hollywood-mexican-actress-dated-timothee-chalamet-was?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Apr 2024 22:00:20 +0000