A trailer for the long-awaited Chinese sci-fi film "Redland" debuted to great acclaim at the 2025 Beijing Sci-Fi Night and Science Fiction Planet Extravaganza gala on Sunday in Beijing.

Sci-fi film "Redland" is presented at the 2025 Beijing Sci-Fi Night and Science Fiction Planet Extravaganza gala in Beijing, March 30, 2025. [Photo courtesy of the CSFC Organizing Committee]

"Redland," formerly known as "Underground Deep Palace," is adapted from the novella "Red Earth" by Xiao Xinghan. The story depicts the world after a nuclear war where humanity survives underground, battles genetically mutated species, and ultimately saves and revives human civilization. The novella won the Chinese Nebula Original Award in 2019. 

Four years in the making, the film is scheduled to premiere on China's iQiyi streaming platform in the near future. At the gala held during the China Science Fiction Convention 2025 (CSFC 2025), Gan Weikang, an executive producer of the film and president of Hainan Eternal Vision Science Fiction Media (EV/SFM), told the audience that "Redland" aims to provide uniquely Chinese original content and deliver higher-quality cultural content to audiences.

"The success of sci-fi films and TV series like 'The Wandering Earth' and 'The Three-Body Problem' has opened new possibilities for China's sci-fi film market, raising audience expectations for more outstanding works. The release of 'Redland' follows this trend, aiming to contribute to the development of Chinese sci-fi cinema," he said.

Director Liu Kaiyi stated that at its core, "Redland" explores humanity's struggle and transcendence under extreme conditions. "When radiation mutates the world, with monsters rampant and survival at stake, people come to realize how truly precious those seemingly insignificant people and things really are," he explained.

A poster for the movie "Redland." [Image courtesy of EV/SFM]

The film, written by Wang Haoyi and produced by Lin Ran, creates a unique underground utopia besieged by nuclear wasteland, mutants and cave tribes. The central suspense driving the narrative is humanity's desperate struggle to overcome these threats and reclaim the surface world. VFX supervisor Meng Jifeng stressed how the team meticulously crafted every visual effect detail — the war-torn above-ground ruins, the mysterious underground world and the bone-chilling monsters — to help fully immerse viewers.

"Redland" author Xiao Xinghan lauded the film's deep exploration of how cutting-edge technologies like genetic engineering may impact future society, as well as its extensive use of advanced technologies like AI during production, giving the entire film a strong futuristic sci-fi aesthetic with unique philosophical depth.

Also at Sunday night's gala, the 3rd Sci-Fi Planet Competition honored outstanding sci-fi enterprises, academic institutions, teams and individuals for their sci-fi and high-tech projects. As China's first independent international sci-fi competition, it offered a prize pool worth 6.65 million yuan this year. The 2025 edition received 747 submissions from China and 10 other countries, with 61 projects advancing to the finals. Winners included Yan Xi's "Age of the Godmakers," Yin Chao's "Village at the End of the World," the Three-Body Universe's VR interactive story "Three-Body: Expedition," and Vidu, a large-scale Chinese video-generation model by Beijing ShengShu Technology.