The sci-fi disaster film "Moonfall," one of the most expensive independently produced films ever made, hit Chinese screens on Friday. 

The film, co-written, directed, and produced by Roland Emmerich and starring Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Michael Peña, and Chinese actress Yu Wenwen, follows two former astronauts alongside a conspiracy theorist who discover the hidden truth about the Earth's moon as it tumbles catastrophically towards the Earth.

Shot on a $146 million budget in Montreal, Canada, "Moonfall" is one of the most expensive independently produced films ever made, allowing Emmerich to enjoy complete creative control. According to a Deadline report, $40 million of its budget was from China's Huayi Brothers Media, which is also distributing the film in China.

Emmerich said he was inspired to make the film after reading Christopher Knight and Alan Butler's novel "Who Built the Moon?" which debated the hollow moon conspiracy theory. "They very provocatively said the moon is a built object, and they had very good arguments for it," explained Emmerich.

Though the director, who was responsible for lots of sci-fi disaster blockbusters such as "Independence Day," "The Day After Tomorrow," and "2012," didn't want to do disaster movies anymore at first, he convinced himself to make "Moonfall" eventually. 

"The movie is like a little bit of space movie, and it mainly takes place in space, which is a new thing for me," Emmerich said. "It also shows the inside of the moon, which is always really exciting and cool. It has a real aspect of philosophy, and it's my movie which is most about philosophy."

With about 1,700 visual effects shots for "Moonfall," the film looks spectacular thanks to the creators' wild imagination, from the vast inner structure of the moon to A.I. nanobot swarms. A Florida museum contributed an original space shuttle cockpit, and NASA provided various bits of data regarding the spacecraft.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film crew had to speed up production and expand their budget. Among the pandemic's restrictions was a lack of shooting locations, forcing the construction of 135 different sets. Some actors also had problems joining the cast due to travel restrictions. Luckily, Chinese actress Yu Wenwen happened to be in Canada.

"It was really not convenient for international travel, which would involve quarantine and many other things. Also, so many actors hired were Canadian locals, but I was there right in time," Yu said. 

Emmerich praised Yu, saying "she surprised me a lot because she always had excellent ideas and was very sure of herself when I worked with her."

The director said doing a movie now is always a considerable challenge, and filmmakers have to go with the times while visual effects of other movies become much more sophisticated. "You have to compete with that. But it was also like something which we like to do. So, there's a certain enthusiasm there. We have not really invented any new things. We have only perfected them."

Emmerich believes that disaster movies may die out at one point, but people in different generations will still embrace them, and the stories are timeless. However, he has no plan for any more disaster movies; "Moonfall" will be his curtain call. "Well, that's my last one," he said, though the ending of "Moonfall" hints at sequels.

"This movie has inspired me that when we are in a moment to face life and death, something will sharply change in our heart, which we can never imagine before you are really at that point. When the time comes, you will find out what is the most important in your life," Yu added. 

The film was released in the United States on Feb. 4, 2022, and also hit screens in many other markets in February before China's opening. However, it has underperformed at the box office, grossing only $41 million worldwide and receiving mixed reviews. It had hoped to meet the Chinese audience's still enthusiastic appetite for disaster films. Still, unfortunately, the recent COVID-19 resurgence in China has shut down more than half of Chinese cinemas nationwide.

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