Setting Ne Zha to music

Popularity of blockbuster propels 17-year veteran composer to new heights, Xu Fan reports.

In a well-decorated music studio, its walls adorned with posters of Ne Zha 2, China's highest-grossing blockbuster, two ultrawide monitors sit atop a large desk.

It's here that Tang Hanxiao, an experienced singer and composer, wrote the theme song for the film, re-recording the lyrics more than 600 times to achieve the final version.

Since its domestic debut on Jan 29, the first day of Spring Festival, the film — loosely inspired by the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) novel Fengshen Yanyi (Investiture of the Gods) — has quickly shattered box office records, becoming the fifth highest-grossing movie in global cinema history.