"Mars Baby" spearheads new box office season

The sci-fi comedy Mars Baby is among the first to join the fierce battle for China's lunar new year box office season. As one of the first features to hit the big screen in China's peak film season, the movie will open on Friday. But we'll give you a sneak peek at the comedy -- and how Mars Baby came to be born -- in "Spotlight".

This is family entertainment, aimed especially at children. Mars Baby is about a boy from Mars who is adopted by a benevolent man on earth. With the name of "OK", the boy is unbelievably lucky. This is noticed by a greedy businessman who kidnaps the boy to make use of his superpower. The kidnapping opens the door to plenty of humor and action in the film. Eventually, OK agrees to give up his superpower to save his father.

The movie stars Hong Kong director Wong Jing and mainland actor Huang Lei in the lead rolls. It also features some of the country's most established pop show hosts including Xie Na, He Jiong, Ke Lan and Dai Jun. Crosstalk comedian Guo Degang makes a cameo appearance in the movie.

Director Liu Yiwei, once TV host and actor himself,  says inspiration for the movie came from his daughter.

Director Liu Yiwei said, "Whenever I come into contact with children, I always find it interesting. They have different ideas from adults. For example, my daughter often spins herself around. I say don't do that anymore, otherwise you will be dizzy. She doesn't listen to me and continues to spin. After she stops, she'll say 'Dad I've stopped but the house has started to swirl.' They have such a different language and thinking mode from ours. I thought that maybe they are from Mars. That's how the movie's scenario was born."

Actor Huang Lei has a baby daughter and gets the same feeling as Liu. He plays the Dad of the baby from Mars. Huang says their father-and-son relationship in the movie has spilled over into real life.

Actor Xu Zheng is the mendacious real estate magnate. His exaggerated facial expression and ridiculous lines are expected to bring the most laughter.

Actor Tong Dawei makes a cameo appearance in the movie in a comic roll as a person who is clueless.

Xu Zheng and Tong Dawei together sang the movie's theme song "Baby, Have You Heard?".

Other actors and actresses such as Wong Jing, Xie Na and Guo Degang have worked to make their performances as funny as possible.

Sci-fi comedy for children is a little known genre in Chinese movies. Mars Baby will try to break the deadlock. The cast says although their movie will face great pressure at the box office, they're confident the novel subject, a promotion targeting a wide audience and appearances by famous actors will win this film a good share of the box office.