As Chinese animated film Nezha overtakes Avengers: Endgame’s box office haul, firms from Tencent, Bilibili to China Literature could benefit
- Film has raked in 4.5 billion yuan since its release a month ago
- Its ‘popularity reflects the potential and energy of Chinese-made animation’
A Chinese animated film inspired by mythology has beaten Hollywood blockbuster Avengers: Endgame to become the country’s second highest-grossing film of the year. And this could be the bellwether to a fast growing market with big investment opportunities, analysts said.
Nezha, adapted from the Chinese novel The Investiture of the Gods, has raked in 4.5 billion yuan (US$640 million) in box office revenue since its release a month ago.
It surpassed the Marvel superhero film’s record haul of 4.2 billion yuan, and has inched closer to Chinese sci-fi hit The Wander Earth, which took in 4.7 billion yuan to become the top-performing film of this year and the second-best in history.
The first Chinese 3D animated film in the IMAX format, Nezha tells the tale of a rebellious young boy born with supernatural powers in the Shang dynasty (1600-1050 BC), who eventually chooses to sacrifice himself to save his people.
The film has won praise for its high-quality visual effects and innovative adaptation of the mythological tale. One of the very few widely-recognised animated films produced in China, it received a high rating of 8.6 out of 10 on movie review website Douban.