The record “Ne Zha 2” gear may seem a surprise. It shouldn't be

Beijing – for someone who lived in China from Pandemia, the success of the animated film “Ne Zha 2” is more a milestone in the industry than a surprise.

The drums of home animation increased in 2023, shortly after the end of the Covid-19 restrictions, with popular editions, such as “Chang An”-a component development of the life of the Chinese poet Li Bai from the perspective of his friend. It was sniffing $ 250 million According to Maoyan's cash data, as the only animated film in China in the first 10 films in China.

The team standing behind “Chang An”, the light animation of Chaser, operates mainly from an old white building on the sleepy outskirts of Beijing. The ceilings are high; The stairs wind through the building to connect many floors and rooms – and the gym.

When I visited this week, some animators – working on their computers in the dark – raced to finish the effects of film lighting on the scenes of this summer film. Others designed historical Chinese robes, detailed eyebrows and restored buildings.

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

He said that a 380-person company must employ at least 100 more people next year to keep up with a new production plan: two film releases per year since 2026, compared to one year. He said that AI could only be a tool for now. Light Chaser plans to move to the new office in the second half of this year.

The studio sticks to the three -year production plan of all films that it does at the same time. He tries to imagine the future and whether 20 million to 30 million people will watch it when the movie appears, said Yu. “Will this story work in three years?”

This film appeared on this summer “Curious Tales of A Temple”, again “tell about Chinese ghost stories,” said Yu. He said that the studio was conducting talks with “Hollywood Mainstream Player” about the release of a film in cinemas abroad, including North America, at the same time as the planned Prime Minister of China.

Referring to the appeal of the studio between the global audience, Yu claimed that Light Chaser “Green Snake”- which is the assembly of a Chinese legend, which would partly establish it in a futuristic city- did well on Netflix after its launch 2021, remaining in the top ten English for three weeks.

Among other animated functions in work, a company from video transmission IQiyi He develops “Master Zhong”, which is to be published this year in China. Ya Ning, a senior vice president in the company, said that Chinese animation began to break its “childish” image and turned into the industry, expanding into film products and games.

“In the history of Chinese animation he has there He was never the movie “Big Fish and Begonia. “… As for the Chinese industry, this brave and breathtaking fantasy adventure stands alone,” wrote Varieta Magazine Branding Magazine after the film was released in 2016.

The film was shot by Enlightened media. This is the same producer for this year's “Ne Zha 2” and “Ne Zha 1”, which appeared in 2019 – this year he found himself in China.

“Deep Sea” from the Studio in Beijing Oktmedia gained recognition at the beginning of 2023 with a fantastic pastel rendering of a trip to healing a young girl after abandoning her mother.

While popularity has not always changed into cash sales, “Ne ZHA 2” was able to partially succeed because it spoke to all age groups, Liu, a manager at the Cinema in Chengdu, said CNBC. While Liu said he was proud of the achievements of the Chinese animation industry, he did not expect another “ne zha 2” The hit in the near future – at least until “Ne Zha 3” appears in 2028.

“Ne Zha 2” appeared in China at the end of January as one of six films for the weekly spring festival festival-he took half of the cash register for this period, according to Maoyan. After publishing in North America on February 14, Maoyan Data showed the movie “Inside Out 2” by Pixar as the best -earning animated film around the world with over 13 billion yuan ($ 1.79 billion) of tickets.

Unlike the Light Chaser concentration, the creators of “Ne Zha 2” consisted in various studies. The director came from Coco Cartoon from Chengdu, while Enlightened media He was the main producer and distributor. Chinese state media said almost 140 companies He contributed to production.

State media also emphasized how Government subsidies from Chengdu to Qingdao They helped support home animation. Beijing in 2021 developed a national plan “Building China in the main cinema player“Until 2035, which contained a call for the production of 50 films a year with cash sales of at least 100 million yuan.

Jonathan Clements, the author of “Anime: A History”, warned that overproduction of films could unpleasantly shock studies and investors. “Animation consumers themselves are a resource that should be thoroughly managed,” he said.

Clements added that, unlike how Disney hits earned over $ 1 billion in cash sales in many countries, “Ne Zha 2” did this primarily because of 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 Chinese plan also stated that domestic films should include at least 55% of the annual cash in the country Turnover.

Hollywood films, when they are allowed to China, saw the weakening interest of domestic recipients. “Godzilla Xkong” was the only one who broke the top dozens last year, according to Maoyan. “Oppenheimer” did not introduce 20 best -earning China films in 2023 and “Barbie” was even more behind.

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

The characters and plot of many Chinese animated television series come from history written online by relatively unknown authors. Chinese literaturesaid the main application operator for the content generated by users 15 out of the 20 most -viewed animated series In the first half of last year, it was based on the content on his platform – in the last few years he also began to introduce adaptations on YouTube when he strives to expand his recipients.

Chinese creators also use generative artificial intelligence to create movies. Short video stream application Apartou It publishes a seven -part mini series, “New World Loading”, which is largely created using a company KLING AI to generate video. Director Chen Xiangyu said that the team had just fed AI's simple scripts instead of drawing characters.