The blockbuster of the Chinese animation Nezha 2 was released at the end of January alongside several other films for the vacation period of the local spring festival.
VCG | Visual China Group | Getty images
Beijing – For someone who has lived in China since before the pandemic, the success of the animated film “Ne Zha 2” marks an important step than a surprise.
The constant drum of local animation had resumed in 2023, just after the end of the COVVI -19 restrictions, with popular outings such as “Chang An” – a new extinguished from the life of the Chinese poet li Bai from the point of view of His friend. It raked $ 250 million As the only animated film in the 10 best Chinese films for the year, according to data from the Maoyan box office.
The team behind “Chang An” Animation Light Chaser, works largely in an old white building in the sleeping periphery of Beijing. The ceilings are high; The stairs go through the building to connect several floors and rooms – and a gym.
When I visited this week, some animators – working on their computers in the dark – ran to finish the effects of cinematographic lighting on the scenes of this summer film. Others have designed historical Chinese dresses, detailed eyebrows and recreated buildings.
“This place is no longer large enough,” said Yu Zhou, president of the studio, in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.
He said that the company for 380 people must hire at least 100 more people next year to follow its new production plan: two films outings from 2026, against one per year currently. AI, he said, can only be a tool for the moment. Light Chaser plans to move to a new office in the second half of this year.
Light Chaser Animation, based in Beijing, had more than 380 employees in February 2025.
The studio sticks to a three -year production plan for all the films it makes simultaneously. He tries to imagine the future and if 20 to 30 million people will watch him at the end of the film, said Yu. “Will this story work in three years?”
This film was planning this summer, “Curious Tales of A Temple”, “Boins” Chinese ghost stories “, said Yu. The studio is in talks with” Hollywood Paystream Players “for having released the film abroad abroad , including North America, at the same time as the planned launch in China, he said.
By referring to the attraction of the studio among world audiences, Yu said that “Green Snake” by Light Chaser – which is an interpretation of a Chinese legend which holds him in part in a futuristic city – did well on Netflix After its launch in 2021, remaining in the Top 10 not not contained English for three weeks.
Among the other animated features in preparation, a video broadcasting company iqiyi Develops “Maître Zhong” which should be published in China this year. Ya Ning, a senior vice-president of the company, said that Chinese animation had started to break its “childish” image and turned into industry, turning into movie goods and games.
A recent story
Chinese animated films have only started to make a sensation over the past 10 years.
“In the history of Chinese animation, there is Never been a film like “Big Fish and Begonia. “… Regarding Chinese industry, this daring and breathtaking fantastic adventure is alone,” wrote the variety of the entertainment industry magazine after the film’s release in 2016.
The film was directed by Beijing illustration media. It is the same producer behind “Ne Zha 2” and “Ne Zha 1” of this year which was released in 2019-he had exceeded the China box office that year.
“Deep Sea”, from Beijing Octmedia studio, was acclaimed in early 2023 with his fantastic rendering of pastel color of the healing trip of a young girl after the abandonment of her mother.
Although popularity has not always been transformed into sales box office, “Ne Zha 2” was able to succeed in part because it called on all ages, the director of a cinema told CNBC, the director of a cinema in Chengdu. While Liu said he was proud of the achievements of the Chinese animation industry, he did not expect another “ne zha 2” Blockbuster in the near future – at least not before “Ne Zha 3” was released in 2028.
“Ne Zha 2” was released in China at the end of January as one of the six films for the a week’s spring festival holidays – and took half the box office for the period, according to Maoyan. After its release in North America on February 14, Maoyan Data showed that the film beats “Inside Out 2” by Pixar as the most profitable animated film in the world with more than 13 billion yuan (1.79 billion dollars) on sale of tickets.
Strategy and plans
Unlike the Light Chaser concentration on internal production, manufacturers of “NE ZHA 2” lean on various studios. The director came from the coconut cartoon, based in Chengdu, while Beijing illustration media was the main producer and distributor. Chinese state media said nearly 140 companies contributed to production.
State media also pointed out how government grants From Chengdu to Qingdao helped support domestic animation. Beijing in 2021 stated a national plan for “Build China in a great cinematographic player“By 2035, which included a call to produce 50 films per year with box office sales of at least 100 million yuan each.
Jonathan Clements, author of “Anime: A History”, warned that the overproduction of films could disagreement shock studios and investors. “Animation consumers are themselves a resource that must be carefully managed,” he said.
Clements added that contrary to the way Disney blockbusters have made more than a billion dollars in box office sales in several countries, “Ne Zha 2” was mainly due to sales in China. “You don’t have to worry about whether your story, or your characters, or your attitudes will play in other countries.”
The China’s plan also said that national films should take into account At least 55% of the country’s annual box office sales.
Hollywood films, when authorized in China have seen decreasing interests of the national public. “Godzilla X Kong” was the only one to make the top 10 of last year, according to Maoyan. “Oppenheimer” failed to enter the 20 most profitable films in China in 2023, and “Barbie” was even more late.
In 2019, “Avengers: Endgame” ranked third at the National Box-Office, according to Maoyan, just behind the Chinese science fiction feeling “The Wandering Earth” and the first film “Ne Zha”.
The characters and the plots from many Chinese lively television series come from stories written online by relatively unknown authors. Literature in ChinaThe operator of a major application for the content generated by users, said 15 of the first 20 animated series online most watched During the first half of last year, he was based on the content of his platform – in recent years, he has also started to put adaptations on YouTube while he strives to widen his audience.
Chinese creators also take advantage of generative AI for cinema. Short line streaming application Kuaishou Publish a mini-series in seven parts, “New World Loading”, which is widely created using the company’s Kling AI for the generation of videos. Director Chen Xiangyu said the team had just nourished the simple scripts of the AI model, instead of having to draw characters.
