The other sci-fi film is director Feng Xiaoning's Animal Rescue Squad.

A Boyfriend for My Girlfriend, a follow-up to the 2016 sleeper hit, Some Like It Hot, examines the "seven-year itch" of marriage with a star-studded cast, including Bai Baihe, Wu Xiubo and Xiao Yang.

Families are expected to enjoy the animated films Peppa Pig and Bonnie Bears: Blast into the Past.

Peppa Pig is a Sino-UK production that blends live-action sequences of Chinese stars Zhu Yawen and Liu Yun with the animated, anthropomorphic piglet siblings, Peppa and George.

Blast into the Past is the sixth film of the Boonie Bears animation franchise. The bear brothers, Briar and Bramble, and the logger, Vick, travel to prehistoric times and encounter saber-toothed tigers and mammoths.

China Film Critics Association's president, Rao Shuguang, points out that audiences have come to consider watching movies in theaters as part of Spring Festival celebrations and he predicts stable growth in the film market this year.

Contact the writer at xufan@chinadaily.com.cn