The record race of ‘Ne Zha 2’ may seem a surprise. It shouldn’t be

Beijing – For someone who has lived in China since before the pandemic, the success of the animated film “Ne Zha 2” marks more a milestone of the industry than a surprise.

The constant drum of the local animation had increased in 2023, just after the end of the COVID-19 restrictions, with popular releases such as “Chang An”, a re-banler of the life of the Chinese poet Li Bai from the perspective of his friend . He approached $ 250 million As the only animated film in the 10 best films in China for the year, according to Maoyan’s box office data.

The team behind “Chang An”, Light Chaser Animation, works largely on an old white building in the drowns of Beijing. The ceilings are high; Wind stairs through the building to connect multiple floors and rooms, and a gym.

When I visited this week, some animators, who work on their computers in the dark, ran to finish the effects of film lighting on the scenes for this summer’s film. Others designed Chinese historical tunics, detailed eyebrows and recreated buildings.

“This place is no longer large enough,” said Yu Zhou, president of the study, in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.

He said that the company of 380 people needs to hire at least 100 more people in next year to keep up with their new production plan: two annual films releases from 2026, compared to one a year today. The AI, he said, can only be a tool for now. Light Chaser plans to move to a new office in the second half of this year.

The study adheres to a three -year production plan for all the films that you are making simultaneously. Try to imagine the future, and if from 20 million to 30 million people you will see it when the movie comes out, Yu said. “Will this story work in three years?”

This film scheduled for this summer, “Curiosus Tales of A Temple”, again tell “Chinese ghost stories,” said Yu. The studio is in conversations with “conventional Hollywood players” for throwing the film in cinemas abroad, even in North America, at the same time as China’s planned launch, he said.

Referring to the attractiveness of the study among the global public, Yu said that the “green snake” of Light Chaser, which is an interpretation of a Chinese legend, partially establishes it in a futuristic city, was fine in Netflix after its launch of 2021, remaining in the 10 main not moles. English content for three weeks.

Among the other animated features in process, video transmission company Iqiyi He is developing “Master Zhong” who is expected to be launched in China this year. None, senior vice president of the firm, said that Chinese animation had begun to break its “child” image and was becoming an industry, also expanding merchandise and film games.

“In the history of Chinese animation, it has I have never been a movie like “Big Fish and Begonia“… Regarding the Chinese industry, this bold and impressive fantasy adventure remains alone,” Variety wrote the Magazine of the Variety entertainment industry after the release of the film in 2016.

The film was made by Light media. That is the same producer behind “Ne Zha 2” this year and “Ne Zha 1” that came out in 2019: he had passed the Cabdker of China that year.

“Deep Sea”, from the study of Beijing Octmedia, won praise in early 2023 with its fantastic pastel color representation of the healing trip of a girl after the abandonment of her mother.

While popularity has not always become box office sales, “Ne Zha 2” could be successful in part because he appealed to CNBC at all ages, Liu Ansing, manager of a movie theater in Chengdu. While Liu said he was proud of the achievements of the Chinese animation industry, he didn’t expect another “Ne Zha 2” Blockbuster in the near future, at least not until “ne zha 3” leaves in 2028.

“Ne Zha 2” went to China at the end of January as one of the six films for the holiday of spring week, and took half of the box office for the period, according to Maoyan. After its launch in North America on February 14, Maoyan Data showed that the film beat “Inside Out 2” by Pixar as the highest grossing animated film worldwide with more than 13 billion yuan ($ 1.79 thousand million) in ticket sales.

Unlike the Light Chaser approach in internal production, the creators of “Ne Zha 2” were based on several studies. The Coco Cartoon director with headquarters in Chengdu, while Light media It was the main producer and distributor. Chinese state media said almost 140 companies contributed to production.

State media also highlighted how Government subsidies From Chengdu a Qingdao They have helped support domestic animation. Beijing in 2021 presented a national plan for “Build China in an important film player“By 2035, that included a call to produce 50 films a 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 surprise studies and unpleasant investors. “Animation consumers are a resource that must be carefully managed,” he said.

Clements added that in contrast to how Disney box office successes obtained more than $ 1 billion in box office sales in several countries, “NE ZHA 2” has done it mainly due to sales in China. “You don’t have to worry about whether your history, your characters or your attitudes will play in other countries.”

China’s plan also specified that national films must take into account at least 55% of the country’s annual box office sales.

Hollywood films, when allowed in China, have seen a reduced interest from the domestic public. “Godzilla X Kong” was the only one to decipher the top 10 last year, according to Maoyan. “Oppenheimer” could not enter the 20 films of China in 2023, and “Barbie” was even further back.

In 2019, “Avengers: Endgame” occupied third place for the national box office, according to Maoyan, just behind the feeling of Chinese science fiction “The Wandering Earth” and the first “Ne Zha” film.

The characters and plots of many Chinese animated television series come from stories written online by relatively unknown authors. China literatureThe operator of an important application for the user generated content, said 15 of the 20 most viewed online series In the first half of last year it was based on content on its platform, in recent years it also began to put the adaptations on YouTube as it strives to expand its audience.

Chinese creators are also taking advantage of the generative AI for cinema. Short videos transmission application Apartment It is launching a mini series of seven parts, “New World Loading”, which is largely created using the company’s Kling for videos generation. The director Chen Xiangyu said that the team has just feed the simple scripts of the AI ​​model, instead of having to draw characters.