Ne Zha 2

Last updated

Ne Zha 2
Ne Zha 2 poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Traditional Chinese 哪吒之魔童鬧海
Simplified Chinese 哪吒之魔童闹海
Hanyu Pinyin Nézhā zhī Mótóng Nàohǎi
Directed by Jiaozi (Yang Yu)
Screenplay byJiaozi (Yang Yu)
Based on Investiture of the Gods
by Xu Zhonglin
Produced byLiu Wenzhang
Wang Jing
Production
companies
Chengdu Coco Cartoon Co.,Ltd
Beijing Enlight Media
Beijing Enlight Pictures
Chengdu Zizai Jingjie Culture Media Co.,Ltd
Beijing Coloroom Technology Co.,Ltd
Distributed by Beijing Enlight Pictures
Release date
  • 29 January 2025 (2025-01-29)
Running time
144 minutes
CountryChina
LanguageMandarin
Budget600 million RMB [1] ($80 million)
Box officeUS$1.17 billion [2]

Ne Zha 2 (Chinese :哪吒之魔童闹海; pinyin :Nézhā zhī Mótóng Nàohǎi; also known as 哪吒2; Nézhā Èr [3] ) is a 2025 Chinese animated feature film, written and directed by Jiaozi. It is the sequel to the 2019 film Ne Zha . [4] The film and its character prototypes are loosely based on the 16th-century Chinese novel Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen Yanyi).

Contents

Ne Zha 2 was released in theaters in China on 29 January 2025 (the Chinese New Year Day) in standard 2D and 3D, IMAX, CINITY and CINITY LED, CGS, Dolby Cinema, 4DX, and other formats. [5] [6] Having grossed US$1.1 billion on a US$80 million budget, it is currently the highest-grossing film of 2025, the highest-grossing film in China, and the highest grossing non-English language film of all time. [7] [8] [9] On the 11th day of its release, Ne Zha 2 became the highest grossing film in a single territory, surpassing the $936 million grossed by Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) in North America, which itself had taken 165 days to reach that mark. [10]

Plot

After Nezha and Ao Bing sacrifice themselves using the Chaos Pearl's energy, [a] their bodies are destroyed, while their souls live on; Taiyi Zhenren attempts to use the seven-colored lotus to reshape their bodies, but encounters numerous difficulties. Meanwhile, Shen Gongbao releases the Four Dragon Kings, long-imprisoned in the deep sea, with Ao Guang, the Dragon King of the East Sea, declaring that nothing would be left in Chentangguan; Nezha has to battle them to defend his home.

Cast

TBA

Production

Shortly after the release of Ne Zha (2019), the production team intended to develop a sequel. Director Jiaozi confirmed that this is indeed the case, and that it would depend on the first film's box office performance. After the success of Ne Zha, the sequel was put into production. The sequel is called "Nezha: The Demon Boy Havoc in the Sea", or Ne Zha 2 in English, and the cost increased to 600 million yuan, breaking the record of Deep Sea (2023), to become China's most expensive animated film. [11]

Ne Zha and Ne Zha 2 both took five years to produce. More than 4,000 people participated in the animation of this film, more than double the 1,600 people in the first film. Producer Liu Wenzhang said that the number of characters in this film is three times that of the previous film. The previous film had more than 1,800 shots, while this film has more than 2,400 shots, including more than 1,900 special effects shots. [12]

Reception

Critical response

Ne Zha 2 has received generally positive reviews. [13] [14] [15] Douban Movies scored the film 8.5/10, and the film also had an average rating of 9.7 out of 10 on Maoyan and 9.8 out of 10 on Taopiaopiao. [16] Red Star News praised its special effects, script, and concept, and said that the film "uses a solid script and accurate expression of values, proving that 'respect for the audience' is the real box office password." [17] Shangguan News praised the film for continuing the style and rhythm of the previous film, and the further improvement of the battle and special effects scenes, but criticized the lack of suspense in the plot. [18] Feng Ji, the founder of Game Science, also reviewed it positively. [19]

Box office

In just three days after its release in China, the film's box office reached 1.1 billion yuan, which became the first movie to reach 1 billion yuan in box office during the Spring Festival in 2025. [20] [21] On the fourth day of release, the box office exceeded 2 billion yuan. [22] On the fifth day of release, it exceeded 3 billion yuan. It exceeded 4 billion yuan on only the sixth day of release, entering the top ten in film history. At the same time, it broke the record for the fastest time to break 4 billion yuan set by Detective Chinatown 3 in 2021 (it took 9 days and 9 hours). [23] The box office exceeded 5 billion on the eighth day of release, breaking the record of breaking 5 billion set by The Battle at Lake Changjin , the box office champion in mainland China in 2021 (it took 19 days and 9 hours), and surpassed the total box office of the first Ne Zha film, becoming the highest grossing animated film in mainland China. The Ne Zha film series also became the second film series to exceed 10 billion with just two movies, [24] and the box office exceeded 6 billion on the ninth day of release. [25]

After the film was released, its box office continued to rise due to its excellent word of mouth. Many took to social media to voice that it was hard to even get a ticket, and many netizens took to the producers' social media to call for more showings to be scheduled to meet the audience's viewing needs. In some places, there were even rare phenomena such as selling standing tickets and midnight showings being completely full. [26] [27] [28] Due to the film's box office performance, the film's producer and distributor, Enlight Media, saw its shares rise by the daily limit after the Spring Festival. [29]

As of February 8, 2025, the box office has exceeded 7.2 billion yuan, ranking first in the Spring Festival period, [30] surpassing Wolf Warrior 2 (2017) and The Battle at Lake Changjin (2021), becoming the first in the total box office of Chinese movies. [31] On February 8, the box office exceeded 7 billion yuan (965 million U.S. dollars), becoming the 63rd film in the history of world movies to break the 7 billion yuan record, and the first non-Hollywood film to break the 7 billion mark. [32] It also surpassed the single territory box office record ($936.7 million) created by Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), just 11 days into its release. [33]

Merchandise

Due to the film's success, official merchandises and toys associated with the film also became best-selling across stores in China. It was reported that many products are completely sold out. [34] [35]

Notes

  1. ↑ As depicted in Ne Zha (2019).

References

  1. ↑ "背水一战！春节档电影含"金"量爆棚丨新春特别策划". finance.sina.com.cn. 29 January 2025. Archived from the original on 29 January 2025. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
  2. ↑ "Daily Box Office". Entgroup. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  3. ↑ "口碑爆了！《哪吒2》破7亿领跑，DeepSeek预测票房超45亿！背后是这家A股公司". www.stcn.com. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  4. ↑ Milligan, Mercedes (13 January 2025). "Animated Box Office God 'Nezha' Returns in New Sequel Trailer". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on 30 January 2025. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  5. ↑ "2025春节档总票房破26亿". www.jiemian.com. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  6. ↑ "《哪吒之魔童闹海》发行通知". January 2025.
  7. ↑ Ramachandran, Naman (7 February 2025). "'Ne Zha 2' Torches Box Office Records, Becomes Highest-Grossing Chinese Film Ever". Variety. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  8. ↑ Tartaglione, Nancy (8 February 2025). "'Ne Zha 2' Becomes Highest-Grossing Movie Ever In A Single Market As China Box Office Haul Overtakes 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Domestic Record". Deadline. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  9. ↑ Milligan, Mercedes (13 January 2025). "Animated Box Office God 'Nezha' Returns in New Sequel Trailer". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on 30 January 2025. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  10. ↑ "Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  11. ↑ "《哪吒之魔童闹海》制片人刘文章：起点够高，没有上限". m.cyol.com. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  12. ↑ "《哪吒之魔童闹海》制片人刘文章：起点够高，没有上限". m.cyol.com. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  13. ↑ "《哪吒之魔童闹海》豆瓣开分8.5！超四成观众给满分 _ 游民星空 GamerSky.com". www.gamersky.com. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  14. ↑ 快科技 (30 January 2025). "《哪吒之魔童闹海》特效拉满：六臂哪吒太燃了 近一半观众给满分". finance.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  15. ↑ 媒体滚动 (1 February 2025). "春节档总票房破51亿！《哪吒之魔童闹海》19亿领跑，背后哪些A股公司有望成大赢家？". finance.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  16. ↑ 哪吒之魔童闹海 (in Chinese (China)). Archived from the original on 10 April 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2025– via movie.douban.com.
  17. ↑ 网易 (31 January 2025). "评论丨《哪吒之魔童闹海》何以打破"续集魔咒"领跑春节档？". www.163.com. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  18. ↑ "《哪吒2》：神话的尽头是套娃，宇宙的尽头是考公". web.shobserver.com. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  19. ↑ "冯骥盛赞《哪吒之魔童闹海》：美术、技术、故事全是长板 _ 游民星空 GamerSky.com". www.gamersky.com. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  20. ↑ "2025 春节档首部 10 亿电影诞生，《哪吒之魔童闹海》总票房突破 11 亿 - IT之家". www.ithome.com. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  21. ↑ "哪吒之魔童闹海：票房破 10 亿领跑春节档 -股票频道". 和讯网. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  22. ↑ 红星新闻 (1 February 2025). "《哪吒2》上映第四天票房破20亿元，冲击中国影史票房第一_手机网易网". www.163.com. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  23. ↑ 网易 (3 February 2025). "哪吒2票房突破40亿，成为史上最快破40亿电影". www.163.com. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  24. ↑ "50.36亿，《哪吒2》票房超前作，晋升中国影史票房第四". m.thepaper.cn. Archived from the original on 5 February 2025. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  25. ↑ "《哪吒之魔童闹海》荣登中国影史票房冠军_中国经济网——国家经济门户". www.ce.cn. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  26. ↑ 快科技 (2 February 2025). "《哪吒2》火到爆棚！有电影院1百/张都满座 开卖半价站票". finance.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  27. ↑ 腾讯网 (2 February 2025). "有影院一天排了88场！凌晨3点也一票难求！《哪吒2》爆火，唯一"受害者"出现了_腾讯新闻". news.qq.com (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  28. ↑ sina_mobile (2 February 2025). "《哪吒2》彻底爆了！有影院一天99场，已破17项影史纪录！盲盒售罄、热门款溢价近一倍". news.sina.cn. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  29. ↑ 《财经》新媒体 (5 February 2025). "《哪吒2》票房超50亿元，出品发行方光线传媒涨停". finance.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  30. ↑ "猫眼电影PC端". www.maoyan.com. Archived from the original on 4 January 2025. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  31. ↑ "《哪吒2》登上中国电影票房总榜榜首-新华网". www.news.cn. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  32. ↑ 快科技 (8 February 2025). "中国电影终于打破好莱坞垄断！《哪吒2》成全球第63部票房超70亿影片 美国未映先火". finance.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  33. ↑ Tartaglione, Nancy (8 February 2025). "'Ne Zha 2' Becomes Highest-Grossing Movie Ever In A Single Market As China Box Office Haul Overtakes 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Domestic Record". Deadline. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  34. ↑ https://www.dzwww.com/xinwen/shehuixinwen/202502/t20250207_15490406.htm
  35. ↑ https://finance.sina.com.cn/jjxw/2025-02-08/doc-ineiufsz2238039.shtml
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