Animated feature tops nation's all-time box office charts

Continuing its soaring momentum during the just concluded Spring Festival holiday, the animated blockbuster Ne Zha 2 surpassed the 2021 war epic The Battle at Lake Changjin to claim the top spot on China's all-time box office charts, signaling the domestic market's huge potential.

Within just eight days from its debut on Jan 29, the film — a sequel to the 2019 top-grossing movie Ne Zha — raked in 6 billion yuan ($822.9 million), with its final earnings estimated to reach 9.42 billion yuan, according to industry tracker Maoyan Pro.

After five years of production, which included over two years dedicated to script editing, the 144-minute movie boasts 2,400 shots, of which 1,900, or nearly 80 percent, are special-effects scenes, according to Coloroom Pictures, its production company.