The record -breaking run of 'ne ZHA 2' may appear a surprise. It shouldn't be

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

The steady drum beat of the local animation had picked up in 2023 shortly after the end of Covid 19 restrictions with popular publications such as “Chang a”-a renewed story of the life of the Chinese poet Li Bai from the perspective of his friend. According to Maoyan's cash data, there were about 250 million US dollars as the only animated film in China's top -10 films for the year.

The team behind “Chang on”, light chaser animation, mostly works from an old white building in the sleepy outdoor districts of Beijing. The ceilings are high; Stairs through the building to connect several floors and rooms – and a gym.

When I visited this week, some animators – at their computers in the dark – ran to end the filmic lighting effects on scenes for the film of this summer. Others designed historical Chinese robes, detailed eyebrows and newly created buildings.

“This place is no longer big enough,” said Yu Zhou, President of the studio, translated into Mandarin, by CNBC.

He said that the company with 380 people would have to hire at least 100 more people next year to keep up with its new production plan: two film publications from 2026, which have currently expired from one year from one year. AI, he said, can only be one tool for the time being. Light Chaser plans to move to a new office in the second half of this year.

The studio adheres to a three -year production plan for all films it does at the same time. The future tries to imagine and whether 20 to 30 million people will see it when the film comes out, said Yu. “Will this story work in three years?”

This film for this summer, “Curious Tales of a Temple,” Chinese Ghost Stories “, said Yu. The studio is in discussions with” Hollywood mainstream players “to publish the film in the cinemas in overseas, also in North America, at the same time like the planned start in China, he said.

Yu alluded to the attractiveness of the studio under the global audience and claimed that the “Green Snake” by Light Chaser is what it was a reproduction of a Chinese legend, which she partially succeeded in a futuristic city after its start of 2021 on Netflix And English content is not in the top 10 for three weeks.

To the other animated functions in work, video streaming company iqiyi Developed “Master Zhong”, which will be published in China this year. Ya ning, a senior vice president of the company, said that Chinese animation had started to break its “childlike” image and turned into an industry, also expanding into film goods and games.

Chinese animated films have only started to cause a sensation for a sensation in the past 10 years.

“In the history of Chinese animation, there has never been a film like” Big Fish and Begonia “. As far as Chinese industry is concerned, this brave and breathtaking fantasy adventure is solely released by the film in 2016.

The film was made by Beijing Enlight Media. This is the same producer behind this year's “Ne ZHA 2” and “Ne ZHA 1”, which came out in 2019 – it had brought China's box office at the top this year.

“Deep Sea” from the studio Octedia von Beijing won in early 2023 with his fantastic pastel -colored representation of the healing trip of a young girl after her mother's job.

While the popularity has not always become in cash sales, “ne ZHA 2” could be partially successful because it spoke to all ages, Liu told the fear of managers in a cinema in Chengdu, to CNBC. While Liu said he was proud of the performance of the Chinese animation industry, he did not expect another “ne ZHA 2” lon Blockbuster in the near future – at least not until “ne ZHA 3” comes out in 2028.

“Ne ZHA 2” came out in China at the end of January as one of six films for the one-week spring festival day and, according to Maoyan, took half of the box office for this period. After its release in North America on February 14, Maoyan Data showed that the film Pixar's “Inside Out 2” defeated the top animated film worldwide with more than 13 billion Yuan ($ 1.79 billion) in ticket sales.

In contrast to Light Chasers focus on internal production, the manufacturers of “Ne ZHA 2” were based on various studios. The director came from the Coco-Cartoon based in Chengdu, while Beijing Enlight Media was the main producer and distributor. According to the Chinese state media, almost 140 companies have contributed to production.

The state media also emphasized how state subsidies from Chengdu to Qingdao contributed to supporting domestic animations. In 2021, Beijing determined a national plan for the establishment of “China to a great cinematic player”, which contained a call for the production of 50 films per year with cash sales of at least 100 million yuan.

Jonathan Clements, author of “Anime: A History”, warned that the overproduction of films studios and investors could shock. “Animation consumers are even a resource that has to be carefully managed,” he said.

In addition, Clements added that Disney Blockbusters, in contrast to the cash register sales of more than 1 billion US dollars, did this in several countries in several countries, primarily due to sales in China. “You don't have to worry about whether your story, your characters or attitudes will play in other countries.”

China's plan also stated that domestic films should make up at least 55% of the country's annual sales sale.

In Hollywood films that are allowed to China, the domestic public has seen a dizzying interest. According to Maoyan, “Godzilla X Kong” was the only one who left the top 10 last year. “Oppenheimer” could not enter China's 20 top greating films in 2023 and not “Barbie” was further behind.

Already in 2019 “Avengers: Endgame” took third place, according to Maoyan, directly behind the Chinese science fiction sensation “The Wandering Earth” and the first “Ne Zha” film.

The characters and actions of many Chinese animation television series come from stories that have written relatively unknown authors online. China literatureThe operator of a large app for user-generated content said that 15 of the 20 most respected online animation series in the first half of the last year was based on its platform on content-in the past few years, it has also started to make adjustments on YouTube, as it was tries to expand his audience.

Chinese creators also use the generative AI for filmmaking. Short video streaming app Kuaishou Publishes a seven-part mini series “New World Loading”, which was largely created with the company's Kling AI for videoogenization. Director Chen Xiangyu said the team had just fed the AI ​​model simple scripts instead of having to draw characters.