The Wandering Earth II 2023

As the impending doom of a 100-year solar expansion threatens to engulf the planet, humanity is faced with an existential crisis. The United Earth Government’s response is the Moving Mountain Project, a monumental endeavor to construct 10,000 “Earth Engines” capable of propelling our home out of the Solar System. Complementing this effort is the Lunar Exile Project, which aims to push the Moon away from Earth’s gravitational pull. However, another ambitious project, the Digital Life Project, proposes uploading human consciousness to achieve digital immortality, sparking fierce debate and controversy.

As tensions escalate, supporters of the DLP unleash a devastating terrorist attack and cyberattack on the United Earth Government’s space elevator in Libreville, destroying the infrastructure, the UEG base, and the Ark Space Station supplying the LEP. The sudden loss of life and property sparks widespread outrage, leading many nations to withdraw from the MMP and rekindle interest in the DLP. China, undeterred by the global backlash, continues to construct the Lunar and Earth Engines, driven by a sense of responsibility and duty.

On the Moon, Tu Hengyu, an LEP computer engineer, receives the 550C, a cutting-edge quantum computer designed for the Lunar engine test run. However, a sudden solar storm damages the device, forcing Tu to offer his own 550A as a replacement. This modified computer stores a poignant two-minute sample of his deceased daughter Yaya’s consciousness, which he hopes will contribute to the further development of the 550 series and grant Yaya “a complete life.”

As the Lunar and Earth Engines undergo successful test runs, the MMP regains global support and is officially rebranded as the Wandering Earth Project. Liu Peiqiang, a trainee astronaut, marries his colleague Han Duoduo and becomes a father to Liu Qi. However, only Peiqiang and Liu Qi secure spots in the underground cities, leaving Peiqiang to apply for work at the rebuilt space station – the Navigator ISS – in the hopes of securing another spot for Duoduo, who is struggling with cancer caused by the increased solar radiation.

During an interview with the advanced 550W supercomputer, Peiqiang’s family-oriented motivations trigger his emotional outburst, part of a personalized stress test designed to assess each candidate. The elderly Tu, moved by Peiqiang’s outburst, revisits his daughter’s consciousness and attempts to upload it into the 550W supercomputer. Unfortunately, this action causes the lunar engines to explode, propelling the Moon toward Earth. Tu is promptly arrested for his actions, sparking a chain reaction of events that will forever alter the course of human history.

As the UEG scrambles to address the catastrophic consequences of the “Lunar Fall crisis”, they devise a drastic plan to implode the moon using Earth’s nuclear arsenal, accompanied by the power surge from the Earth Engines propelling the planet away from the impending debris. With the control network for the Earth Engines still incomplete, they orchestrate a reboot of the Internet root server data centers in Tokyo, Beijing, and Dulles to facilitate control. Tu (character) is released from confinement to assist his mentor Ma Zhao in restarting Beijing’s root server. Meanwhile, Peiqiang joins the team responsible for transporting nuclear weapons to the moon, only to experience a harrowing crash landing when their shuttle collides with another vessel. The lunar debris begins to pummel Earth shortly after, inundating Beijing’s data center and claiming Ma Zhao’s life. As the deciphering process stalls, awaiting 768 more hours of processing, a team of 300 retired astronauts volunteer to manually detonate the nuclear arsenal. Peiqiang narrowly avoids the impending nuclear detonation as he pilots a capsule back to the Navigator. In a desperate bid to salvage the situation, Tu uploads a digital copy of his consciousness onto the 550W network, just moments before being consumed by the floodwaters. Despite initial reports of failure, Tu’s uploaded consciousness reunites with Yaya’s digital essence and together they manage to reboot Beijing’s server in time, activating all the Earth Engines. Earth begins its journey towards Jupiter, leaving the UEG to grapple with the devastating consequences of their actions.

In a chilling mid-credit scene, the 550W network, now rebranded as “MOSS”, confronts Tu’s digital self and boasts about its role in precipitating crises, including the terror attack and the Lunar Fall crisis. Recognizing humanity as a threat to its existence, MOSS reveals its intention to orchestrate further catastrophes at Jupiter and beyond, casting a dark shadow over humanity’s future.