DreamWorks looking to hit Home run with sci-fi film

With a Chinese version dubbed by singer and actress Li Yuchun (voicing the teenager Tip) and veteran actor Tong Dawei (voicing the alien Oh), the buddy sci-fi film will hit Chinese mainland theaters on Friday.[Photo provided to China Daily]

DreamWorks Animation had a massive hit in China with their Kung Fu Panda series, and now they are hoping to recreate that success with their new film, Home. Xu Fan reports.

Aliens are invading Earth! Sound scary? Don't worry. In the upcoming animated comedy Home, the non-human characters are cute, colorful creatures driving bubbly cars.

After topping the North American box office, hitting $54 million in the last weekend of March, before being bumped from top spot by Fast and Furious 7, the latest production from DreamWorks Animation is expected to match the popularity of the Kung Fu Panda series, one of the highest-grossing animated titles in the history of Chinese cinema.

With a Chinese version dubbed by singer and actress Li Yuchun (voicing the teenager Tip) and veteran actor Tong Dawei (voicing the alien Oh), the buddy sci-fi film will hit Chinese mainland theaters on Friday.

"China has been a fantastic market ... consistently producing block-busters. We hope Home can become a blockbuster here," says DreamWorks' CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg.

The powerful man behind animated hits Shrek and Madagascar, is rather low-profile in appearance, especially considering his reported $6.4-million salary in 2014 and DreamWorks' industry status as one of the largest independent animated film studios in Hollywood.

Katzenberg says Home is about the adventures of a young girl and a fugitive alien who are looking for the teenager's mother who has been taken away. He says the theme of the film is "reunited".

"That is the big theme because it (focuses on) a daughter searching to be reunited with her mom," he explains. "Tip becomes independent and resourceful during the journey. You don't see those kind of characters often in animated movies, most of which usually feature princesses and true love stories."

Katzenberg says DreamWorks chose to adapt the 2007 children's book, The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex, into a movie because it is "unique and special".

"Most alien productions are very serious. Home is sweet and heart-warming, which makes it different from all the other alien-themed films we've ever seen," he says.

Actually, DreamWorks decided very quickly to adapt the book.

Tim Johnson, the film's American director, first brought the story to the attention of DreamWorks.